Before the marquee face-off between Republican U.S. Rep. French Hill and Democrat Clarke Tucker kicked off Monday afternoon, candidates from Arkansas’ 1st and 4th Congressional Districts debated earlier in the day.
Both districts — which together include most of east, south and west Arkansas — are being contested by major party candidates for the first time in four years. The Libertarian Party also has candidates in each district.
In the 1st District, U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, R- Jonesboro, debated Democrat Chintan Desai and Libertarian Elvis Presley.
In the 4th District, U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Hot Springs, debated Democrat Hayden Shamel. The second debate in the race was delayed after the Libertarian, Tom Canada, failed to show up.
The debates were filmed by the Arkansas Educational Television Network on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas. The 1st and 4th District debates air tonight. The 2nd and 3rd District debates air Tuesday night. The debates were livestreamed while they were taped.
1st District debate
Crawford and Desai quickly began trading barbs over their policy positions and attitudes toward the campaign.
Desai suggested Crawford had become complacent in Congress, accusing the congressman of being out of touch with Delta farmers on the issue of tariffs. Desai claimed that one of Crawford’s constituent offices was so little used that it had cobwebs on the doors.
Crawford retorted by calling Desai’s ideas “socialist” and said the Democrat had no plan to pay for them. Desai, Crawford said, “has no idea what this job entails.”
The congressman said protesters who have shown up at his constituent offices had declined face-to-face meetings to discuss their issues. He accused the groups of being focused on getting attention.
Neither candidate paid much attention to Presley, who had his hair quaffed like the deceased King of Rock and Roll. The Libertarian gave a simple response to several questions: “casinos.”
4th District
After a delayed start due to the search for the missing Libertarian, Westerman and Shamel took the stage as a duo to deliver their opening remarks.
Shamel laid out three policy positions that she said formed the basis of her campaign: lowering the costs of prescription drugs, expanding resources for education and raising the minimum wage.
The congressman spent much of his own time trying to pick apart those stances. By focusing on prescription drugs, the congressman said Shamel was only addressing one part of health-care access. He said he’s “deeper than hashtags and memes.”
Westerman said he was against the Issue 5 ballot proposal to raise the state’s minimum wage to $11 per hour, saying job seekers are already “in the driver’s seat” with the growing economy. Shamel said she supports the measure.
At least a half a dozen times during the debate, Westerman compared Shamel to U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, remarks that led Shamel to accuse the congressman of unnecessary partisanship.
“I’m not Nancy Pelosi,” Shamel said. “I don’t intend to vote for Nancy Pelosi for [House] leadership.”