A semiretired toy-safety regulator has opened a bid to unseat a Little Rock Republican in a state House district that has often been a previous target of Democrats.
Mike Lee, 69, is the only candidate to announce plans to run in the Democratic primary in District 31, now held by GOP state Rep. Andy Davis. Two other Democrats ran unsuccessfully against Davis in 2012 and 2014, and he ran unopposed two years ago.
Davis, one of two Republicans to represent part of the capital city in the state House, is also one of several legislators vying to become the next House speaker at the end of the current fiscal legislative session.
In a brief interview Tuesday, Lee declined to comment on Davis' viewpoints or House voting record. Instead, he chose to focus on his own stances: favoring greater funding for public and higher education, and support for Arkansas' private-option Medicaid expansion program.
In a news release announcing his campaign last week, Lee said the people of his district "have been fed empty promises by smooth-talking politicians."
District 31 includes a sliver of Little Rock in the Chenal Parkway area and rural areas covering parts of Pulaski and Saline counties.
Lee said state funding levels have not kept up with the needs of many school districts, even as some have been supported by strong local tax revenue in recent years. He questioned the wisdom of Gov. Asa Hutchinson's proposed budget for next fiscal year, which ends the transfer of about $50 million in general revenue to the educational adequacy fund for public schools. Hutchinson said that is being fully funded through sales taxes.
"I don't think we're there," Lee said of state funding levels for schools.
On the topic of health care, Lee said he is a supporter of the state's Medicaid expansion, also known as Arkansas Works, though he opposed a change sought by Hutchinson to remove some people earning above the poverty line from the rolls. Lee said he had "mixed feelings" about Hutchinson's request to add a work requirement for people covered by the program.
As of the most recent count, Arkansas Works provides health insurance to about 285,000 Arkansans.
Davis noted that he has supported Arkansas Works along with the changes pursued by Hutchinson.
"We've got things headed in the right direction," Davis said, mentioning the state's low unemployment rate and the governor's record of tax cuts.
Lee said he moved back to Little Rock several years ago after retiring from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in Washington, D.C. He described himself as "semiretired," because he teaches a class at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock's W. H. Bowen School of Law, where he received his law degree.
Metro on 02/15/2018