Wallace seeking to unseat Burnett in state's Senate

Freshman state Rep. David Wallace, a Republican from Leachville, said Tuesday that he's challenging Democratic state Sen. David Burnett of Osceola for the Senate District 22 seat.

Wallace said he's a conservative Republican who would better represent District 22. Wallace said Burnett represents the interests of the Democratic Party.

Burnett countered that he's more qualified than Wallace to represent the district, which he has represented since 2011, and that he's just as conservative as Wallace.

Burnett said the Fayetteville-based Conduit for Action group that opposes the state's private-option health insurance program encouraged Wallace to run for the Senate seat. Wallace said Conduit for Action urged him to run but that he's made no promises to the group.

Through the private-option program, the state is using federal Medicaid dollars to purchase private health insurance for some low-income Arkansans. Burnett has voted to authorize the use of federal funds for the program since 2013. Wallace voted against funding the program earlier this year.

Fayetteville attorney Brenda Vassaur Taylor, a co-founder of Conduit for Action, said the group encouraged Wallace to run based on his voting record for smaller government and reduced dependence on government.

Senate District 22 includes Mississippi and Poinsett counties and a part of Craighead County.

Wallace, 66, has been in the state House of Representatives since January. He also served several years on the Leachville City Council. He is an owner of a disaster recovery company and is a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel.

Burnett, 74, has been in the state Senate since 2011. He also served 26 years as a circuit judge and eight years as a prosecutor.

Wallace said he's running against Burnett because he's a conservative Republican who opposes abortion and favors requiring voters to have photo identification to cast their ballots.

"I will continue to vote against [funding] the private option," Wallace said.

He said he's looking forward to seeing what the legislative health care task force recommends regarding changes for the state's Medicaid program, including a possible replacement program for the private option after it ends at the end of 2016.

Authorized under the federal 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and approved by the state Legislature in 2013, the expansion of the state's Medicaid program extended eligibility to adults with incomes of up to 138 percent of the poverty level: $16,105 for an individual, for instance, or $32,913 for a family of four. More than 200,000 Arkansans have enrolled in health insurance coverage through the program.

The state will have to pick up 5 percent of the private option's cost starting in 2017, and its share of the cost will gradually increase until it reaches 10 percent in 2020.

Burnett said he is better qualified than Wallace because of his nearly 40 years as a prosecutor, circuit judge and state lawmaker, and he would like to serve four more years in the state Senate.

He said he's "extremely conservative myself. I have always been," citing his record as a circuit judge, in particular.

"I am just as conservative as he is," Burnett said.

He said he supports requiring voters to provide some form of identification. He also supports Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson's plan to revise the Common Core educational standards.

The state Senate consists of 24 Republicans and 11 Democrats. Seventeen of the Senate's 35 seats are up for grabs in the 2016 election. The 17 contested seats are held by 11 Republicans and six Democrats.

Metro on 08/20/2015

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