Steam building to leave Darr’s position unfilled

Let voters pick new No. 2 in November, legislators say

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/BENJAMIN KRAIN --1/7/2014--
Lt. Gov Mark Darr tells reporters Tuesday that he has no intention of resigning after ethical violations surfaced last week.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/BENJAMIN KRAIN --1/7/2014-- Lt. Gov Mark Darr tells reporters Tuesday that he has no intention of resigning after ethical violations surfaced last week.

Three days after Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Darr announced his resignation, the state House and Senate Republican leaders and the Senate Democratic leader said Monday they want to keep the post vacant for the rest of Darr’s term and would back legislation eliminating the need for a special election.

House Democratic leader Greg Leding of Fayetteville said he would probably vote for the measure if two-thirds of the House and Senate allow it to be introduced in the fiscal session starting Feb. 10. Holding a special election to fill the part-time job is probably not worth the potential cost of a few million dollars, he added.

House Republican leader Bruce Westerman of Hot Springs said it doesn’t make much sense to have a special election and general election for lieutenant governor in the same calendar year, potentially six months apart.

Senate Democratic leader Keith Ingram of West Memphis, who proposed a constitutional amendment in 2011 to eliminate the lieutenant governor’s office and transfer its duties to the Senate president pro tempore, said the proposed legislation makes “economic sense.” The financial savings would outweigh the “limited benefit” of replacing Darr, he said.

Senate Republican leader Eddie Joe Williams of Cabot said it’s fiscally responsible to have one election for lieutenant governor in 2014 rather than two.

Darr announced his resignation Friday, effective Feb. 1.

The lieutenant governor’s primary duties are to preside over the Senate when it’s in session and to be acting governor when the governor is outside the state. The job pays $41,896 a year.

Current Arkansas law requires Gov. Mike Beebe to call a special election within 150 days after the seat is declared vacant.

Senate President Pro Tempore Michael Lamoureux, R-Russellville, who Friday questioned the need for a special election, said Monday that he’s asked an attorney for the Bureau of Legislative Research, Matthew Miller, to contact Beebe’s chief legal counsel, Tim Gauger, to draft legislation to circulate to lawmakers.

Lamoureux said he hopes that the Senate and House Republican and Democratic leaders would agree to sponsor the proposed legislation.

Beebe said Friday that he could “live” with the Legislature approving such legislation if it also fixed a problem “with that whole special-election statute, which is messed up anyway because of the timeline inconsistencies,” and “pretty much 100 percent” of the Legislature supported it, although he has generally opposed lawmakers considering nonfiscal legislation during their fiscal session.

Beebe said Monday that he’s still researching whether he’s required under state law to declare a vacancy after the lieutenant governor’s post becomes vacant and call a special election within 150 days, and “seeing if there is a virtual unanimous consensus with the Legislature about what some alternative [is] if they want to change the law.”

Rep. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, said Monday in a letter sent to lawmakers that he intends to introduce legislation in the fiscal session to provide that a special election for lieutenant governor “shall not occur” if the vacancy occurs in a general election year when the lieutenant governor’s raceis already on the ballot.

A statewide special election on Nov. 8, 2011, cost the state roughly $1.27 million and a special election for lieutenant governor could cost almost $4 million if a primary election, a primary runoff and a special election are necessary to fill the post, Hammer said in echoing cost estimates from Republican Secretary of State Mark Martin’s office.

A two-thirds vote would be required in the 100-member House of Representatives and the 35-member Senate for the Republican-controlled Legislature to consider legislation on a nonfiscal matter during next month’s fiscal session.

The House is made up of 51 Republicans, 48 Democrats and a Green Party member. The Senate is made up of 21 Republicans, 13 Democrats and a vacant seat, formerly held by Jonesboro Democrat Paul Bookout, that will be filled in a special election today.

House Speaker Davy Carter, R-Cabot, said Monday that the feedback that he has received from lawmakers so far is that there “is quite a bit of support” for changing the law to avoid the need to pick a short-term replacement for Darr.

“There is not anybody that I am aware of that’s jumping up and down to have a special election,” he said.

Leding said he’s heard back from about half of the 48 House Democrats and they are divided over the proposed legislation.

Some House Democrats are rightfully concerned about considering nonbudget matters in the fiscal session, while other House Democrats aren’t sure it’s a good idea to spend a few million on a special election to fill a vacancy that will be filled in the general election in November, he said, adding that the special election might be confusing to voters.

State Democratic Party Chairman Vince Insalaco said Friday that he believes “we should follow the law as it stands now. There is simply not enough time to have a conversation with the people of Arkansas to make a change.”

But state Republican Party Chairman Doyle Webb of Benton said Monday that he sees no reason to have a special election. Under Arkansas law, Lamoureux can preside over the Senate or delegate the duties to one of his colleagues; the state constitution also makes Lamoureux next in line to serve as governor.

The lone Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor - businessman and former state Highway Commissioner John Burkhalter of Little Rock - would be eligible to run for the job in a special election this year, while the two Republican candidates - state Rep. Andy Mayberry of East End and Charlie Collins of Fayetteville - would be ineligible under the Arkansas Constitution.

The constitution bars a state representative or a state senator from being elected to another state office during the term for which he was elected.

Republican Donnie Copeland of Sherwood, a pastor who narrowly lost the Republican nomination to Darr in 2010, has said he’s considering running for lieutenant governor.

Burkhalter said he’ll “leave any special-election determination or time frame up to Gov. Beebe and our elected Legislature.”

Collins and Mayberry said it doesn’t make sense to spend money on a special election to fill the lieutenant governor’s post for less than a year, regardless of how the proposed legislation would affect them.

Ingram said it wouldn’t necessarily help to be an incumbent lieutenant governor, elected in the special election, on the general election ballot.

“They might vote against the incumbent because they confuse Darr’s problems with whoever is the incumbent,”he said.

Two weeks ago, the Arkansas Ethics Commission fined Darr $11,000 for the 11 violations of state ethics laws and regulations, which included improperly spending more than $31,000 in campaign funds, using a state-issued credit card for more than $3,500 in personal purchases and receiving more than $3,500 in improper travel reimbursements. Darr has said he didn’t intentionally take money that he was not entitled to and blamed inadequate record keeping and campaign-finance reports for the violations.

Last month, auditors for the Legislative Audit Division reported that Darr received $9,298 in improper mileage reimbursements for more than 22,000 personal-vehicle miles and made personal purchases on a state-issued credit card for more than $2,500. They recommended Darr reimburse the state $9,836 for excess travel reimbursements and expenses. Darr said he plans to reimburse the state soon.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 01/14/2014

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