Saturday, November 10, 2012
Arkansas Politics UPDATE: Recount underway in House District 52, partisan control in balance
Posted by Max Brantley on Sat, Nov 10, 2012 at 6:28 AM
**** UPDATE UPDATE *****
Republican Chair Doyle Webb sent a Twitter late Friday night saying the recount had been completed in Craighead County, the most populous in the House district and there was no change in the vote. This was the county where questions about some provisional ballots led to the Democratic candidate's first questions about the outcome. That would appear to lengthen the odds of a change in results.
*************************
Following is what I wrote Friday afternoon.
The recount of the House District 52 race began today in Craighead County. This is the race in which Republican John Hutchison of Harrisburg has been declared a winner by 44 votes over Democrat L. J. Bryant of Grubbs with more than 10,000 votes cast. Bryant is paying for the recount.
Should Bryant win (a prospect many consider remote because most voting was done and tabulated electronically), the Republicans would hold 50, rather than a majority of 51, of the 100 House seats, with Democrats holding 49. The status of the loyalties of Fred Smith of the Green Party, a former Democrat, would then be critical. He's believed to lean Democratic despite his past travails (Democrats sued to remove him because of a theft conviction later set aside), but I haven't talked with him to confirm that.
The election night vote:
Total
Bryant 5,004
Hutchison, 5,049
Craighead
Bryant 1,501
Hutchison 1,857
Independence
Bryant 407
Hutchison 383
Jackson
Bryant 1,083
Hutchison 523
Poinsett
Bryant 2,013
Hutchison 2,286
The other three counties will recount next week. Democratic Party spokeswoman Candace Martin said Independence might not be done until Thursday, the day the House is currently scheduled to meet to decide whether to vote again on a House speaker designate for 2013-14. Democrat Darrin Williams was elected earlier, but Republicans are expected to replace him with Terry Rice if they hold onto the majority.
I just heard that the Republican National Committee is taking this VERY seriously. In addition to a Doyle Webb intimidation squad, the RNC has sent a lawyer from Washington to monitor the recount. She's Leslie Rutledge, an Arkansas native from Batesville (Independence County if you didn't know) with experience in this sort of stuff.
Speaking of...
-
Republicans hit Pryor on IRS union contribution
May 17, 2013Easy score. Arkansas Republican Party says U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor should return political contributions he's received from the union that represents Treasury Department employees, which include IRS workers. /more/
-
The death and taxes open line
May 16, 2013The line is open. Closing out: * THERE THE GOP GOES AGAIN: The Arkansas Republican Party is in all-out assault mode on U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, today pounding him for saying seven years ago that he supported permanent repeal of the estate tax (dishonestly called a "death tax" by the Republicans) but joining in recent bipartisan approval of what is now a dramatically lower estate tax. /more/
-
Do Arkansas Republicans have room for a centrist?
May 6, 2013Good article by the AP's Andrew DeMillo on House Speaker Davy Carter's consideration of running for governor. /more/
-
Arkansas Republicans hate on Nancy Pelosi, in LR today
May 2, 2013The Arkansas Republican Party is positively thrilled that Nancy Pelosi is speaking in Little Rock today (noon at Statehouse Convention Center to accommodate an expected large crowd). /more/
-
Monday morning nut watch
April 22, 2013It's Monday. If we're lucky, we have only 36 more hours of extremist Republican lawmaking (Obamacare approval excepted) at the Arkansas Capitol. /more/
-
Republicans mount PR effort on Voter ID bill
April 4, 2013The Arkansas Republican Party, having passed a Voter ID bill developed nationally to depress turnout among traditional Democratic constituencies, mounted a PR effort this morning to show that they really do care about people voting. /more/
- More »
Comments (7)
Showing 1-7 of 7
More by Max Brantley
-
Gun nuttery: We ain't done yet
I couldn't begin to catalogue all the steps taken by the Arkansas legislature to combat a problem that doesn't exist.
- Mar 30, 2013
-
The post-crash morning report
Another day and the Arkansas Blog is back in business after an extended crash last night.
- Apr 11, 2013
- More »
Event Calendar
-
Re: Riverfest Eve open line: Democrats rip Tim Griffin; Arkansas Tech joins no-gun list
I went all thru school with a skinny boy we nicknamed Goober who I think…
- on May 23, 2013
-
Re: Late news: Arrest in Forrest Abrams slaying; sentencing in West Memphis vote buying
Home detention for the two Hallum absentee ballot scheme is outrageous, especially for Malone who…
- on May 23, 2013
-
Re: Boy Scouts to allow openly gay scouts
I doubt there would be a dozen openly gay Boy Scouts in the State of…
- on May 23, 2013
Top Commenters
Blogroll
Slideshows
-
May 16, 2013
Site Index
News
Cover Story / Arkansas Reporter / The Week That Was / Smart Talk / The Insider / The Observer / Editorial / Max Brantley / Ernest Dumas / Gene Lyons / Bob Lancaster / Words / Guest Writer / Letters
Entertainment
A&E Feature / To-Do List / In Brief / Movie Reviews / Music Reviews / Theater Reviews / A&E News / Art Notes / Graham Gordy / Books / Media / Dining Reviews / Dining Guide / What's Cookin' / Calendar / The Televisionist / Movie Listings / Gallery Listings
This Week's Cover
Quick Links
Special Publications
RSS
Facebook
Twitter
