"One office in need of extensive cleaning (and maybe some basic repair) is the lieutenant governor's. What's needed in that office is somebody honorable, respected and experienced, with Arkansas roots, an ingrained sense of duty, and a record of service in elected office. An experienced congressman and former U.S. attorney would seem a good hire. And it would help if he was a lieutenant colonel on the side."
--our editorial endorsing Tim Griffin, four years ago
It's a part-time position. The holder of the job doesn't make the news often. And if the holder makes the news, it's usually embarrassing.
Tim Griffin hasn't been in the news much the last four years. Which becomes him.
Why? Because he hasn't been doing nothing. That would have been one way for the lieutenant governor of Arkansas to stay out of the news: just hold office without doing much. Sleep-walk to the next election. Pad the resume. But that hasn't been the case when it comes to the incumbent lieutenant governor. The governor of Arkansas, Asa Hutchinson, has appointed Tim Griffin to several committees/commissions/task forces. The lite guv goes about the business of making Arkansas government better. And deserves re-election.
Let's see, Tim Griffin has led that review of Common Core, which some people questioned with the fierceness usually reserved for sports. (We've never understood that. The opposition to Common Core, that is.) He's the vice chair of the governor's Transformation Advisory Board. Also, Colonel Griffin is a member of the governor's Military Affairs Commission, along with other duties of the office, official and otherwise.
Tim Griffin's election to that office went a long way toward restoring good sense to an office that's important enough that the constitution allows the holder to break ties in the state Senate. And don't forget, in recent memory alone, two lieutenant governors have been elevated to the governor's office, both in the 1990s.
Arkansas needs somebody with good sense and experience there. In this race, Tim Griffin is the only candidate that meets that definition.
Editorial on 10/24/2018