State's 100 on fence as delegates for Trump

Republican National Committeeman Jonathan Barnett of Siloam Springs
Republican National Committeeman Jonathan Barnett of Siloam Springs

Arkansas has 101 elected Republican legislators, constitutional officers and members of Congress, and 100 of them have declined, thus far, to publicly support businessman Donald Trump in his bid for the presidency.

The officeholders have steered clear of the New Yorker despite his first-place finish in the state's March 1 Republican presidential primary.

Only state Sen. Jon Woods of Springdale has openly backed the party's front-runner, and he did so nearly eight weeks ago.

Woods said some former state lawmakers support the anti-establishment candidate, but none of the current legislators are ready to do so publicly.

While Trump lacks establishment endorsements in the state, Woods said he clearly has connected with average Arkansans.

"He is a successful businessman. He is not bought and paid for. He has financed his own campaign. People like that," Woods said.

State Republican officials angling for seats at the Republican National Convention won't be able to stay on the sidelines much longer. The party will elect 12 delegates Saturday -- three from each of the state's four congressional districts. Another 25 will be selected May 14 at the party's state committee meeting in Hot Springs.

The national GOP convention is scheduled for July 18-21 in Cleveland. None of the GOP presidential candidates has obtained a majority of delegates.

Generally, when a candidate is winning the most votes and capturing the most delegates, party leaders climb aboard long before the nominating conventions, said Brookings Institution senior fellow and former Gore 2000 senior adviser Elaine Kamarck. But the author of Primary Politics: Everything You Need to Know About How America Nominates its Presidential Candidates, says 2016 is atypical.

"This is not a normal year, and [Trump's] not a normal front-runner. He has got weak ties to the Republican Party, he has never been a politician before and he has done enough things to make people wonder whether he has got the temperament to be president," she said. "It's a combination of issues, but it's also a combination of personality, too. People are worried about this guy."

Republican National Committeeman Jonathan Barnett of Siloam Springs, who is automatically a delegate because of the position he holds, said he expects that other Arkansas Republican leaders, including at least one constitutional officer, will endorse Trump within the next month.

"I think that they're just a little nervous," he said, adding that additional primary victories -- on Tuesday and thereafter -- will help get people off the sidelines.

Overall, Trump won 16 delegates in Arkansas; U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas earned 15; and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida claimed nine.

Under the state party's rules, Arkansas' three automatic delegates were divvied up -- one for each of the three top vote-getters.

Barnett is assigned to vote for Trump on the first ballot in Cleveland, and he expects others to soon be eager to join him.

"If Donald ends up winning, I mean, everybody likes a winner. I think you'll see things change if that happens," he said.

Part of the problem may be cultural, Barnett said.

"I think there's a lot of members of the Legislature that like Donald Trump. I think a lot of them believe that he could create jobs and bring jobs back to America, but I think his approach is not necessarily the Arkansas approach, and his values are probably different than a lot of Arkansans' values."

Those differences will be set aside if Trump gets the nomination, Barnett said, predicting Arkansas Republicans will be united in November.

Woods argues that longtime party activists should be encouraged by Trump's candidacy and excited about the thousands of Arkansans who attended his rallies.

"These are new voters. These are people I've never seen before. He's single-handedly growing the party all on his own. It's a big deal," Woods said.

While the vast majority of the state's elected officials haven't cast their lot with Trump, a few have filled out the paperwork to run as Trump delegates. But they have kept their options open, paying three separate filing fees in case they decided to instead back Cruz or Rubio.

Now, with the delegate votes nearing, they're beginning to narrow their choices.

One of the filers, U.S. Sen. John Boozman, said he's leaning toward opting out of the competition this time, allowing someone else to have the honor.

The Republican from Rogers, who led the Arkansas delegation at the 2012 convention in Tampa, Fla., said he'd be on hand this time, if only as an observer.

"There's so much interest right now in people becoming a delegate, more so than ever before, and I've been to the last three" conventions, he said. "I'm actually thinking about actually allowing someone else to fill that slot because they desperately want to get there."

Another filer, 4th District U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman of Hot Springs, hopes to participate in the floor proceedings, though not as a Trump loyalist.

"I told [Republican Party of Arkansas Chairman] Doyle Webb that if I had to pick one, I would run as a Cruz delegate. That's my plan. He and Trump both finished close in the voting in Arkansas. He did very well in my district, and I think it's going to be between he and Trump, so I picked Cruz."

U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton of Dardanelle also told Webb which of the three delegate slots he plans to seek, but he has not publicly announced his decision or made any formal endorsement, the senator's spokesman said earlier this month.

Second District U.S. Rep. French Hill, who filed both as a Cruz and a Rubio delegate, told party officials that he will run for a spot with the Rubio contingent. His colleagues, 1st District U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford and 3rd District U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, have been in the Rubio camp since February.

Rubio, who suspended his campaign after losing his home state's March 15 presidential primary, hasn't released his delegates so he's still entitled to receive nine Arkansas votes on the first ballot in Cleveland. After that, his Arkansas backers become free agents.

Judd Deere, a spokesman for state Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, confirmed that she has filed for all three of the candidates who won delegates in Arkansas but said she hasn't announced which of them she hopes to represent.

"Her intention is to ensure that the people of Arkansas have their choice represented through the delegate process. Ultimately, she will support the Republican nominee," he said.

SundayMonday on 04/24/2016

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