State Sen. Jim Holt running for U.S. Senate [Arkansas]

Arkansas News Bureau ^ | Nov 18, 2003 | Doug Thompson

[JohnnyZ]

State Sen. Jim Holt, R-Springdale, will run for the U.S. Senate, making the second challenge Sen. Blanche Lincoln has faced from a conservative Christian state senator from Northwest Arkansas.

Holt said voters would support his candidacy because of "the continuing loss of our freedom, especially our religious freedom."

Two recent examples, he said, are the removal of an inscription of the Ten Commandments from an Alabama court building and a federal court ruling that the phrase "under God" was not a constitutional part of the Pledge of Allegiance.

"The executive and legislative branches of government are supposed to check and balance each other," Holt said. "Nothing in the constitution makes the Supreme Court the first among equals. It's supposed to be three equal branches."

Holt would support the appointment of conservative judges to the federal judiciary, he said.

Holt is the first Republican candidate to make a definite announcement that he's running. A Republican primary is probable, Republican Party leaders have said. Former Benton County Sheriff Andy Lee has expressed an interest in the race.

Gov. Mike Huckabee and former U.S. Rep. Asa Hutchinson, R-Fort Smith, have said they will not enter the race.

Steve Patterson, Lincoln's chief of staff and her campaign manager-designee, said Monday that the senator would wait until her opponent had won a nomination before commenting in detail. She is also "immersed in a very long, difficult congressional session" and is not thinking about a campaign yet, Patterson said.

Lincoln was elected to the Senate in 1998, when her opponent was state Sen. Fay Boozman of Rogers. Boozman is now state Department of Health director.

Holt, 38, was elected to the state Senate in 2002, after serving one term in the state House of Representatives. He is a U.S. Army veteran who is a Christian youth counselor at the Piney Ridge Center in Springdale. He and his wife, Bobyecq, have "seven children who are born and another child who's not been born yet," Holt said.

Holt's term in the state Senate does not expire until 2006. He will retain his seat in the state Senate if he does not win the Senate race.

"I am running for U.S. Senate proclaiming my faith in God, my desire to strengthen families and supporting our soldiers who are protecting our freedom," Holt's election announcement said. "We can no longer stand back and allow the country to be taken over by five justices who are out of control and have taken away many of our freedoms. These justices have usurped the powers of the legislative and executive branches as well as the powers of the people."

Holt would "vote to confirm justices with common sense and will not block progress nor the will of the people."

In the Legislature, Holt is known for his conservative stances, both in budget matters and in social policy. He unsuccessfully opposed the so-called "bed tax" on nursing homes, and is rated by the conservative lobby the Eagle Forum as one of the top five anti-tax lawmakers in the Legislature.

Holt sponsored legislation that would restrict the teaching of unproven theories in school, which failed and was criticized as an anti-evolution measure. He supported legislation that required that a woman be shown an ultrasound of her fetus before receiving an abortion. Holt also sponsored legislation that would have required detailed reports of spending by the state's political parties.

[JohnnyZ]

Principled conservative will have an uphill battle.

[Dan from Michigan]

Don't know anything about him. First tier would be someone like Huckabee or a strong congressman. 2nd tier? 3rd tier?

[Dan from Michigan]

Ping

[AuH2ORepublican]

Win Rockefeller is definitely out? If so, this Holt guy may be as good as it gets for us. He should win big in very conservative NW Arkansas, which was carried fairly narrowly by Tim Hutchinson in 2002 because of his personal indiscretions (had Hutchinson gotten his usual margin in the NW, he may have defeated Pryor). It is certainly uphill for someone with such low name ID to take on the popular Blanche Lincoln, so Holt better hope for (i) the judicial filibuster issue to move to the forefront, (ii) the gay marriage issue to taint all RATs, even those like Lincoln who will almost certainly vote for the Marriage Amendment if she's facing a strong electoral challenge, and (iii) a Dean nomination, which could lead to huge coattails from President Bush in Arkansas.

[JohnnyZ]

Let's just say he has the potential to get it close, and then he'll need a good Republican night to win.

[Kuksool]

Bush had better nominate a judge from AR and have Ted Kennedy call him a "neanderthal" if Holt wants to gain any traction in the Senate race.

[Abram]

I wish that we could get someone with statewide campaign experience and even then, that will be difficult. Lincoln is a easy name to remember, is pretty, and is fairly moderate. This will be a tough race to win unless she is the VP nominee (which has been floated around). What is known about Lt. Gov. Rockefeller or even Rep. Boozman.

[JohnnyZ]

Bush had better nominate a judge from AR and have Ted Kennedy call him a "neanderthal"

Arkansas Judge Leon Holmes is being held up by Republican pro-aborts in the Senate. Pryor and Lincoln have been calling for a vote. Thanks Specter, Kay Bailey Moronson, Olympia & Susan . . .

[FirstPrinciple]

Is Kay Bailey Hutchinson pro-abortion/pro-choice? How can she get elected from TX then?

[JohnnyZ]

She succeeded her hubby. Texans don't seem to mind; she's very popular.

[Kuksool]

The talent pool of the AR GOP is rather shallow. Our 2 chances were Gov Huckabee and Asa Hutchinson. Since they're not running, we don't have any 1 tier candidate left. Boozman was elected in 2001. Thus, he doesn't have enough political accomplishments on his resume for a statewide race. Holt is out best option. Good luck to him.

In many ways, the AR GOP is similar to a third party. IT only has a presence in the Little Rock suburbs and the NW corner of the state. The party is nonexistent in the many rural areas of the state. AR is still largely an Old South rural state.

[FirstPrinciple]

Was her husband a conservative?

[Clintonfatigued]

In 1998, Lambert defeated a similar opponent by a comfortable 55% to 42%. What strengths does Holt bring that Fay Boozman lacked?

[Pubbie]

Forget it, we won't win this seat.

[Clintonfatigued]

Actually, Kay Bailey Hutchinson is not squarely in the pro-life or pro-choice camps on the abortion issue. She supports Roe vs. Wade "with reasonable limits", opposing late-term abortions and federal funding of abortions. When she first won statewide office (state Treasurer in 1990), support for legal abortion was far higher than now, even in Texas. And when she won a special election to the U.S. Senate in 1993, she made it into the runoff with a weak 'Rat when two pro-life conservatives split the committed conservative vote.

[WOSG]

She did *not* succeed her hubby, she won a special election.

[WOSG]

Forget it, we won't win this seat."

Quit being negative, any southern state is winnable. Bush will win Arkansas by 10 points against Dean...

coat-tails and a good candidate would do the trick.

Now, for some negatives on Lincoln:
* Are you aware she is in bed with Kennedy and Schumer on stopping the judges from getting to a vote?
* Did she vote for the pro-growth tax cuts of Bush?
etc.

[WOSG]

(i) the judicial filibuster issue to move to the forefront, (ii) the gay marriage issue to taint all RATs, even those like Lincoln who will almost certainly vote for the Marriage Amendment if she's facing a strong electoral challenge, and (iii) a Dean nomination, which could lead to huge coattails from President Bush in Arkansas.

All 3 of the above are likely.

[Pubbie]

Actually Bush will probably carry Arkansas by nearly 20% against Dean since Arkansas, unlike most Southern states, has a relatively low Black population.

Maybe Holt could pull an upset with Bush's coattails - like Sonny Purdue rode Saxby Chambliss' coattails to victory in Georgia - But it will still be very hard to defeat Stinkin' Lincoln.

[Clintonfatigued]

Actually, Sen. Lincoln did vote for the Bush tax cut. And she has, on a few occasions, broken with her party on judicial votes. She's trying to play it as carefully as she can, trying to appease both state voters and Senate 'Rats.