2 lawmakers say Holcomb switching parties

Rep. Mike Holcomb (left), D-Pine Bluff, and John Payton (right), R-Wilburn, talk with Rep. Bob Ballinger after a final amendment to Ballinger’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act was approved Tuesday, March 31, 2015, in the House.
Rep. Mike Holcomb (left), D-Pine Bluff, and John Payton (right), R-Wilburn, talk with Rep. Bob Ballinger after a final amendment to Ballinger’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act was approved Tuesday, March 31, 2015, in the House.

LITTLE ROCK — Two Arkansas lawmakers say Democratic state Rep. Mike Holcomb of Pine Bluff is switching parties and becoming a Republican.

Holcomb planned to announce the party switch at a news conference Thursday afternoon, according to the lawmakers, who had spoken directly to the two-term legislator about his decision. They spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid pre-empting his official announcement.

Holcomb was elected to the state House in 2012 and re-elected last year. Holcomb did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Holcomb would be the first Democratic legislator to leave the party since Republicans swept statewide and federal offices in the November election. The GOP already holds a majority in the state House and Senate. Holcomb's switch would give Republicans 64 of the 100 seats in the House.

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