Times Editorial : Votin’ time
Posted on Tuesday, May 6, 2008
There's no sense in trying to deny it. Once lawmakers decided to uproot the state's presidential contest from its traditional late spring / early summer placement and stick it in February, it killed much (if not all ) of the interest that we would historically be feverishly reporting right now. If the state's presidential primary was coming up in a couple of weeks as it has in the past, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton would be crisscrossing the Natural State in search of votes. Instead, because the state decided to hold its primary the same day as more than a score of other states, Arkansas received zero limelight.
Lacking a presidential race to be concerned with, and also lacking much in the way of locally contested races, it's not hard to believe many folks didn't even know early voting began Monday. And they may not know that the state's primary for state and local races is May 20, the same day local and state judicial races are decided.
But it's pretty quiet out there. The decisions to be made in this election simply aren't very much of a draw to interest much but the hard-core voters.
Decisions do need to be made, though, so any and all voters should lend their voice to the process of electing those they want to lead them, or make decisions on their behalf.
Below are our endorsements for this primary season • For Courtney Henry. Why ? The Arkansas Court of Appeals candidate brings an outstanding resume to the table. Among other things, Henry has been a part of more than 1, 300 appeals cases in eight years. Besides being active in the community, she strikes us as an attorney who knows her stuff. She says there isn't any room for partisanship on the bench, but clearly she knows a thing or two about politics, as she has managed to garner the support of former U. S. Rep. John Paul Hammerschmidt, a Republican, and former U. S. Sen. David Pryor, a Democrat. That's no easy feat.
Ron Williams, her opponent, recently told members of the Washington County Republican Women that he has been practicing law for more 33 years. No doubt he has a lifetime's worth of knowledge stored up, but his partnership with Springdale's Jim Holt (who is serving as a campaign consultant for Williams ) will probably give some voters pause about just how far to the right this candidate really leans and to what extent he's willing to impose his views from the bench.
• For Micah Neal. Why ? The District 2 incumbent has done nothing we know of to deserve the boot from the Washington County Quorum Court. We, for one, appreciate his seeming to "get"that the lack of space at the Washington County Detention Center is a serious problem, one that the county's JPs aren't going to be able to blow off for years. As proof that he supports original thinking, Neal says he isn't opposed to solving the county courthouse's space issues by building an "all-encompassing courthouse"between Fayetteville and Springdale. Neal was also smart enough to support zoning throughout all the county's unincorporated areas, and that's given the county strong tools to protect its rural areas.
His opponent, David Quin, gives voters a distinctly different choice. For instance, Quin says he would have sided against last fall's controversial zoning legislation. He says it hurts rural people. We say it protects residents and their property.
• For Joe Patterson. Patterson has served his constituents well and served admirably as chairman of the Public Works Committee. The District 13 incumbent has been out reminding people that he was against the zoning ordinance, insisting that it puts too many restrictions on people. That stance doesn't exactly thrill us.
Still, it sounds as if booting him out would make little sense, as Stacy Cavender, his opponent, appears almost as conservative without the experience. Cavender tells voters that he is firmly against any more taxes, and that county government ought to find a way to function with the money it has. Interestingly, he comes down in the middle of the zoning debate, saying he sees it both ways.
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