In his bid to unseat U.S. Sen. John Boozman, Democratic candidate Conner Eldridge says it's time for Arkansans to ditch the Republican incumbent and elect someone who has a more aggressive approach to serving the state in Washington, D.C.
"The choice in this race is between somebody who has been there for 15 years and hadn't done anything, and a strong new voice to aggressively represent Arkansas," Eldridge said in an interview.
"I plan to take my experience as a prosecutor and a no-nonsense, really nonpartisan apolitical approach full of common sense and a will to get things done to Washington," he said.
Boozman said he should be re-elected because he's "right on the issues, trying to limit government, trying to have a government that works, trying to watch our spending and trying to keep federal taxes to a minimum."
He said he works hard on five U.S. Senate committees and has shepherded various bills into law, such as reauthorizing the veterans homeless program and designating U.S. 67 from North Little Rock to Walnut Ridge as the future Interstate 57. He also said he's worked to help establish the U.S. Marshals Museum in Fort Smith and the World Trade Center in Rogers.
"We really do try to use the power of the office for good, so we've had 18,000 asks for help, people approaching us saying we've got a problem" with the federal government, Boozman said in an interview. He is in his first six-year Senate term.
Also in the race is Libertarian candidate Frank Gilbert of Tull, who said he's only the candidate who would shake up the status quo in the nation's capital.
"If folks think that the economy is fine and the country is heading in the right direction and everything is hunky-dory in America and the world, then they can vote for Conner or they can vote for Senator Boozman and be well taken care of," Gilbert said in an interview.
Boozman, Eldridge and Gilbert are vying for a six-year term in the U.S. Senate -- a job that pays $174,000 a year.
Boozman, 65, has served in the U.S. Senate since 2011, after he ousted Democratic incumbent Blanche Lincoln. He was in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2001-11.
Eldridge, 39, served as the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Arkansas from 2010-15. He was appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama.
Gilbert, 66, is an in-school suspension manager at Bauxite Middle School and a former mayor of Tull. He ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2014.
Eldridge said he doesn't consider his appointment by Obama to be an issue in the race.
"It's really laughable that they keep bringing that up," he said, referring to Boozman's campaign officials. "I think people are sick of the politics of demonization. Sen. Boozman, having handled U.S. attorney appointments in his time in the House, knows that the job of prosecutor is not political. It is really shameful that they keep trying to make the job of a prosecutor some sort of political football."
Boozman said, "Well, it is a political appointment, and political appointments are based, whether it's being ambassador to whatever country or being the federal prosecutor ... on the support of the president.
"There were a number of different people that were pursuing that, and the most important thing is what he has done for the president. It certainly wasn't based on experience, because he had very limited experience in getting that job," Boozman said. When he was appointed as U.S. attorney, Eldridge was chief executive officer of Summit Bank and a special deputy prosecutor for the prosecuting attorney's office of Clark County.
Arkansas Republicans have made historic gains in state and federal offices in the past few elections by linking Democratic candidates to Obama.
According to campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, Boozman has received the most in contributions.
Boozman reported receiving $3.03 million in campaign contributions and spending $1.45 million from Jan. 1, 2015, through June 30 of this year. He had $2.07 million in the bank on June 30, according to his last campaign finance report.
In contrast, Eldridge reported receiving $1.28 million in campaign contributions, making a $25,000 loan to his campaign and spending $1 million from Aug. 28, 2015, through June 30 of this year. He had $315,071 in the bank on June 30.
A campaign finance report wasn't available for Gilbert on the Federal Election Commission website.
TOP PRIORITIES
Eldridge said his top priorities include introducing a bill to allow judges to sentence child predators to life in prison; focusing on national security and criminal justice issues; expanding a program that he started as U.S. attorney to have police inform schools when children are present during traumatic, violent or criminal events so the schools can help the children; expanding access to high-speed Internet in Arkansas; and improving the nation's health care system.
He said his other priorities include cutting budget deficits and the federal debt; securing the border with Mexico and providing a pathway to legalization for illegal aliens; joining the group trying to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that meant corporations and unions could spend unlimited amounts of money on political activities, as long as it was done independently of a party or candidate; and helping create a responsible medical marijuana program.
Boozman said his top priorities include reining in regulations from the Obama administration; reducing federal budget deficits and debt of about $20 trillion; working on the farm bill to make sure Southern agriculture is taken care of and safety nets are in place so farmers can get loans; and enacting legislation to provide more flexibility among states for summer meal programs for low-income children. He's the second ranking member on the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee.
Gilbert said his main priorities include dismantling the Federal Reserve; easing the nation's drug laws, which are leading to too many people in prison; increasing congressional controls on federal agencies' budgets and authority; and improving the nation's relationship with the rest of the world.
DEFICITS AND DEBT
The federal government's debt has tripled to $20 trillion over the past 15 years under the presidents of both parties.
"Within my first 100 days, I would sit down with a number of Republican senators and Democratic senators to talk specifically about this issue and seek to build a coalition to really take on this serious challenge that our country faces," Eldridge said. He said he wants to cut the expenses for all the major Cabinet agencies.
Boozman said tackling the federal government's annual budget deficits of more than $500 billion and the $20 trillion debt "has to be right at the top of the list." He said he favors a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution to help rein in federal spending.
"The people of Arkansas understand that when you are in a situation of financial difficulty you cut back, you scale back. I think that's really the situation we are in. We need a forensic audit of government looking at all the programs that we are doing. Some programs need to be increased because they do a good job. Others simply need to be eliminated," he said.
Gilbert said he supports significantly cutting each federal department immediately, and he backs Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson's call for cutting the Pentagon's budget by 20 percent.
All three candidates said they oppose raising taxes.
AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
Eldridge declined to say whether he would have voted for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act signed by Obama in 2010, but he said he opposes repealing it. He said he wants to work to improve it and control rising health care costs.
Using the funding available under the federal law, Arkansas enacted its own version of Medicaid expansion for low-income Arkansans in 2013. It was passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature during the term of then-Gov. Mike Beebe, a Democrat.
Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson is seeking a waiver from the federal government for a revised program called Arkansas Works that he said would encourage work and personal responsibility by Arkansans enrolled in the program. The number of people in the program now is about 300,000.
"I support Arkansas Works," Eldridge said. "I support the private option. I am with Gov. Beebe and Asa Hutchinson on that. Sen. Boozman wants to do away with all of it."
Boozman said he has voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act because it's a "failed experiment." He said the federal law has dumped a lot of people without health insurance into "the old system," the cost has skyrocketed and health insurance premiums increased.
He said he would like the federal money that states have accepted for Medicaid expansion under the federal law "block granted to [states] so they can figure out how to help out people that don't have health insurance. They need flexibility to use those dollars as they would like."
Gilbert said he favors repealing the Affordable Care Act because he doesn't know how to change it and make it work. Regarding the Arkansans enrolled in the state's Medicaid expansion, he said, "You can spend a lot less money and put free clinics in every county in Arkansas available to those who are indigent or temporarily without adequate finances."
ABORTION
Eldridge said he opposes overturning the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade.
"I am personally opposed to abortion, [but] I do not believe it is government's role to make that decision for women, particularly at early stages," he said. "I support the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funding from going to abortion, and I support the ban on partial-birth abortion."
Boozman and Gilbert said they favor overturning the Roe v. Wade ruling, and they oppose abortion except to save the life of the mother and in cases of rape and incest.
ISLAMIC STATE
Eldridge said sending U.S. ground troops overseas to fight Islamic State militants, also known as ISIS, needs to be a last resort.
"I think we need to do our best to continue pounding with airstrikes, continue the aggressive campaign we have without boots on the ground. You can't rule anything out when you are dealing with a dangerous group that wants to kill and harm Americans."
Boozman said, "I believe that everything is on the table when it comes to defeating ISIS.
"You don't micromanage a war from Washington. We need to listen to our generals and military commanders who are leading the fight. We also shouldn't telegraph to our enemies what we will not do," Boozman said.
Gilbert said he wants to fight the Islamic State "to the death" and wouldn't be opposed to sending U.S. ground troops overseas to fight ISIS.
TRADE
Eldridge said he opposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement because "I am for free trade if it is fair, and this agreement is not fair."
The pact aims to deepen economic ties among a dozen nations by slashing tariffs and fostering trade to boost growth. It involves the U.S., Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Chile and Peru.
Boozman said, "Right now, I am not pleased with the agreement.
"I am looking forward to next year when we get in there and clean up a lot of problems with it. I will be working hard to see if we can come up with an agreement that we all agree with that will benefit the American worker," he said.
Gilbert said he supports the idea of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.
IMMIGRATION
Eldridge noted that Boozman has voted against legislation aimed at securing the border and providing a pathway to legalization for illegal aliens.
"We need to secure our border, and then we need to have a pathway to legal status for people who are in this country and meet certain requirements, pay taxes, comply with the law and other requirements. We certainly need to make sure that we know what or who are entering the country," Eldridge said.
Boozman said he wants to secure the border, hold employers accountable to make sure they employ workers who are legally in the country and push a visa program for needed workers such those in agriculture.
Regarding illegal aliens and extended families, the senator said: "The question is, what do you do with all of those folks?
"We are struggling now to pay for the benefits that we've committed ourselves to, the safety net that we have in place now to our own citizens. How do you pay for all those things, so that's a discussion that is going to have to be had with the next president, and hopefully with Republicans and Democrats working together and the House and the Senate and the people of America," Boozman said. "But it's not an easy thing."
Gilbert said the nation's borders must be protected from ISIS, and "90 percent of the American people know" that the nation must create a system to allow illegal aliens to become legalized citizens.
Eldridge said Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border and have Mexico pay for it doesn't make any sense.
"I think the wall has become a divisive symbol," Eldridge said.
Boozman said, "We need a wall physically in many places. We actually have physical walls now in certain areas. But with the ability to have drones and all the technology that is out there, this is really a very, very doable thing if we want to do it."
Asked if Mexico would finance the wall, Boozman said, "I don't know how it is going to be paid for, but it is something that needs to be done."
Gilbert said, "Everybody except the fanatics know [Trump] didn't mean it" when Trump called for building the wall.
"He's not that big a nut," Gilbert said.
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