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Arkansas Lieutenant Governor Mark Darr refuses calls to resign
Democrats plan to push for Darr’s impeachment for violating state ethics rules
♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolitics.com
LITTLE ROCK (CFP) — A defiant Lieutenant Governor Mark Darr says he will not resign, triggering a likely impeachment showdown in the Arkansas legislature over his violations of state ethics rules
Arkansas Lieutenant Governor Mark Darr
“I am not downplaying what has occurred, but there is no scandal, no conspiracy and no malicious intentional disregard of the law,” Darr, a Republican, said in a lengthy defense issued January 7.
“Today I put a stake in the ground. Not for this office, not for the title or the job, but I put a stake in the ground for those Arkansans who are sick and tired of these types of political games and the people who play them.”
Darr did not elaborate on who he believes is playing political games. But he insisted that his violations of state ethics rules, which drew an $11,000 fine from the state’s ethics commission, were unintentional.
Democratic Governor Mike Beebe and all five Republicans in the state’s congressional delegation have called on Darr to resign. That would trigger a special election, which Darr said would be a waste of a million dollars of taxpayer money.
But Democrats in the state House of Representatives have said they will push for Darr to be impeached if he does not resign. The next legislative session begins February 10.
Republican House Speaker Davy Carter said his office “is contemplating a couple of avenues in which to provide a proper process should the majority of members decide to pursue impeachment.”
An impeachment in Arkansas would be uncharted territory, as it has apparently never been done under the state’s current constitution, which dates to 1874.
Impeachment requires a simple majority in the House, which currently has 51 Republicans, 48 Democrats and one Green Party member. That would mean that Darr would have to hold all of his fellow Republicans in line in order to avoid impeachment.
Darr’s prospects in the Senate — where he is the presiding officer — would seem to be better. There are currently 21 Republicans and only 13 Democrats, with one vacancy. Removing Darr would require at least 24 votes.
Darr, 40, a restaurant owner from Springdale, had never held elective office before winning the lieutenant governorship in 2010. He based his campaign, in part, on opposition to Obamacare.
He abandoned a campaign for the open 4th District U.S. House seat after his ethics problems first came to light last summer.
In its report, the ethics commission said Darr made personal use of more than $31,000 in campaign funds and charged more than $3,500 of personal expenses on a state-issued credit card. He was also cited for receiving improper reimbursement for nearly $3,600 in travel expenses from his home in Springdale to his office in Little Rock.
He was also cited for mistakes in his campaign finance reports.
In his statement, Darr conceded that he accepted the travel reimbursement for use of his personal vehicle. But he said that actually saved the state money because he was entitled to use the Arkansas State Police for travel and security, which would have been much more expensive.
He said the improper use of the state-issued credit card was for “purchases that were either for official state use or used by mistake while traveling. As soon as the errors were realized, I reimbursed the state for those charges.”
The mistakes in his campaign finance reports, Darr said, stemmed from repayment of a $170,000 loan that he made to his campaign. After he was elected, he raised money to pay the loan back and made mistakes in reporting those contributions, which he said were corrected as soon as they were brought to his attention.
“I want you to know that at the end of the day, the only money that ever came back to me, in whatever form, was a repayment of campaign debt that was legally owed to me,” Darr said.
Darr apologized to the people of Arkansas and conceded that “this has been an embarrassing time for my family and me.”
“When history is recorded I want my children to know that I have owned up to mistakes and made them right,” he said.
Pressure builds on Arkansas Lieutenant Governor Mark Darr to resign
Democratic Governer Mike Beebe and state’s Republican congressional delegation all call on Darr to step down for violating ethics rules
♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolitics.com
LITTLE ROCK (CFP) — Arkansas Lieutenant Governor Mark Darr is under increasing pressure to resign, after the state ethics commission fined him $11,000 for misusing campaign funds during his 2010 campaign.
Arkansas Lieutenant Governor Mark Darr
Darr, a Republican, accepted that fine on December 30. But in a letter to the commission, he blamed sloppy record-keeping for the violations, insisting that he never “intentionally took money that didn’t belong to me.”
While Darr has not made any public statements since the ethics committee announced its decision, his attorney told local media that he has no plans to step aside.
But a day after the fines were handed down, Democratic Governor Mike Beebe said it would be “in everybody’s interest, including Mr. Darr, if he resigned.”
Perhaps more ominously for Darr, his fellow Republicans in the state’s congressional delegation — U.S. Senator John Boozman and U.S. Reps. Tom Cotton, Tim Griffin, Steve Womack and Rick Crawford — issued a very blunt joint statement calling on Darr to go.
“As elected officials, we are keepers of the public trust. We are bound by a very strict code of conduct that is the basis of that trust,” the statement said. “Based on Lt. Gov. Darr’s own admissions, it is clear he has violated that trust, and he should step down immediately for the good of our state.”
Darr is the second statewide constitutional officer to run into trouble this year. Former State Treasurer Martha Shoffner, a Democrat, resigned after she was indicted for allegedly accepting bribes from a state contractor that were delivered in a pie box. Her trial is set for July.
If Darr resigns, a special election would be held to pick his replacement.
Darr, 40, a restaurant owner from Springdale, had never held elective office before winning the lieutenant governorship in 2010. He based his campaign, in part, on opposition to Obamacare.
In its report, the ethics commission said Darr made personal use of more than $31,000 in campaign funds and charged more than $3,500 of personal expenses on a state-issued credit card. He was also cited for receiving improper reimbursement for nearly $3,600 in travel expenses from his home in Springdale to his office in Little Rock.
He was also cited for mistakes in his campaign finance reports.
The ethics complaint against Darr was filed by Democratic blogger Mark Campbell, first reported in his Blue Hog Report.
After the ethics issues surfaced last summer, Darr abandoned his campaign for the 4th District seat in the U.S. House. He has not announced whether he would seek a second term as lieutenant governor.
Two Republicans, State Reps. Andy Mayberry and Charlie Collins, have announced they are running for lieutenant governor. Democrat John Burkhalter, a state highway commissioner, is also running.
U.S. Senator David Vitter to decide on Louisiana governor’s race in January
Vitter tells C-SPAN that Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal will run for White House in 2016
♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolitics.com
WASHINGTON (CFP) — Republican U.S. Senator David Vitter says he will decide in January whether to seek Louisiana’s governorship in 2015.
U.S. Senator David Vitter
“We don’t have any hard deadline in mind, but I would expect we’ll come to a conclusion sometime in January,” Vitter told C-SPAN in a December 19 interview.
“It comes down to one key question …where I think I can make the most positive difference off of the remainder of my political life,” he said.
Vitter also said it is “very obvious” that his state’s current governor, Republican Bobby Jindal, will make a bid for the White House in 2016.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal
“I do think he’ll run. I think he’s been running, and I think he’ll be a meaningful and signficant candidate,” said Vitter. However, the senator stopped short of endorsing Jindal, saying he has not yet thought ahead to the 2016 race.
Jindal, 42, elected in 2007 and re-elected in 2011, is term limited as governor.
Vitter, 52, said regardless of whether he runs for governor or stays in the Senate, it will be the last political office he holds. His Senate term runs until 2016.
Vitter also said he sees a “50-50 or better chance” that Republicans will take control of the Senate in 2014, which would make him the chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. However, he said the possibility of gaining the majority won’t be “a determining factor” in deciding whether to stay in the Senate or run for governor.
Because Louisiana holds its state elections in off years, Vitter could pursue the governorship without giving up his Senate seat.
If he runs for governor, Vitter will likely face a intra-party challenge from Lieutenant Governor Jay Dardenne, who has said he is also likely to run for governor and has already set up a campaign Web site.
In Louisiana, Vitter, Dardenne and all other candidates from any party run together in a single primary, with the top two vote getters vying in a runoff if no one gets a majority.
Two Democrats have also announced — Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell from Shreveport and State Rep. John Bel Edwards from Roseland. There has also been speculation that another prominent and popular Democrat, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu might make the governor’s race if he wins re-election in February.
Landrieu is the brother of Vitter’s seatmate in the Senate, U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, who is up for re-election in 2014.
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin draws Tea Party challenger in GOP primary
Former State Senator Randy Brogdon wants rematch with Fallin, who beat him in 2010
♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolitics editor
OKLAHOMA CITY (CFP) — GOP Governor Mary Fallin will face a primary challenge from former State Senator Randy Brogdon, a Tea Party favorite touting himself as the “constitutional conservative” in the race.
Former State Senator Randy Brogdon
“We are in the fight of our lives for liberty, and I feel morally obligated to lead that fight on behalf of Oklahoma families,” Brogdon said in launching his campaign Web site on Chirstmas Day.
“My promise as governor is to protect Oklahoma families from the overreach of federal and state government and to restore your God-given unalienable rights of life, liberty and property,” he said.
Brogdon, 60, the former mayor of Owasso in suburban Tulsa, served two terms in the Oklahoma Senate from 2002 to 2010. He gave up his seat to run for governor, finishing second to Fallin in the Republican primary with 39 percent of the vote.
During that campaign, Brogdon made national headlines after he was linked to a proposal from some Oklahoma Tea Party activists to create a volunteer state militia to resist federal power.
Under fire from fellow Republicans, Brogdon insisted he was only expressing support for a provision in the state’s constitution that allows for creation of such a force to help during emergencies.
“If you’re talking about having a state guard to march on Washington, D.C., of course not,” Brogdon told CNN’s Anderson Cooper in an interview at the time.
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin
Fallin, 59, was elected as the Sooner State’s first female governor in 2010, after serving two terms in the U.S. House, representing the 5th District, which takes in much of metro Oklahoma City. She announced back in October that she would seek a second term.
A month later, Fallin ordered state-owned National Guard facilities to stop processing appplications for spousal benefits, in definance of the U.S. military’s directive to extend benefits to same-sex couples. The decision means that military spouses — both gay and straight — must travel to federal facilities to apply for their benefits.
Oklahoma voters outlawed same-sex marriage in a 2004 ballot initiative. Fallin said her decision “protects the integrity of our state constitution and sends a message to the federal government that they cannot simply ignore our laws or the will of the people.”
In December, Fallin racheted up the anti-federal rhetoric by ordering state education officials not to allow their federal counterparts to have any input in developing the state’s educational standards.
Two Democrats have filed to run for governor — State Representative Joe Dorman from Rush Springs and RJ Harris, a Norman attorney who ran unsuccessfully for Congress as a Republican in 2010 and as an independent in 2012. He was also an unsuccessful candidate for the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination in 2012.
Democrat Terry McAuliffe wins Virginia’s governorship
Clinton confidante gets narrow win; attorney general race is headed for a recount
♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolitics editor
(Note: CNN’s coverage of McAuliffe’s victory speech below)
RICHMOND, Virginia (CFP) – The second try proved a charm, as Democrat Terry McAuliffe narrowly defeated Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to claim Virginia’s governorship.
Governor-elect Terry McAuliffe
McAuliffe, a long-time confidante and fundraiser for both Bill and Hillary Clinton, won the commonwealth’s top post with 48 percent, compared to 47 percent for Cuccinelli in November 5 vote. Libertarian Robert Sarvis drew 7 percent.
While the governor’s race proved closer than pre-election polls indicated, Democratic State Senator Ralph Northam easily defeated Republican pastor E.W. Jackson in the race for lieutenant governor.
In the race for attorney general, with all of the precincts reporting, GOP State Senator Mark Obenshain held a lead of less than 300 votes over Democratic State Senator Mark Herring, out of more than 2 million votes cast. The race was within the margin to trigger a recount.
McAuliffe’s win gives Democrats control of four statehouses across the South, with Virginia joining West Virginia, Kentucky and Arkansas in the Democratic column. Republicans hold the top spot in the other 10 Southern states.
McAuliffe, 56, the former head of the Democratic National Committee, was making his second bid for governor. He lost in 2009 to Republican Governor Bob McConnell, who was barred by state law from seeking re-election.
McAuliffe has a long history in national politics, chairing Bill Clinton’s re-election campaign in 1996 and Hillary Clinton’s White House bid in 2008. However, he has never held elective office.
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