The Republican Party of Arkansas put out a press release early this morning saying it would reveal at 2:30 p.m. today the name of a Democratic legislator who is defecting to the GOP. A spokesman for the Democratic Party of Arkansas says the party is 99 percent sure that the legislator is Rep. Mike Holcomb of Pine Bluff.
Holcomb represents House District 10, which includes portions of Lincoln, Cleveland, Grant, Drew and Jefferson counties.
H.L. Moody, spokesman for the Democratic Party, said Holcomb did not caucus or vote with the party, and so he’s probably found the right home. Moody said Holcomb is leaving a party that welcomes varying points of view for one that allows “not a lot of room for discussion.”
Moody said he’d heard there could be additional legislative Dems switching teams, but couldn’t provide any names.
In 2014, Holcomb won his district as a Democrat with 58 percent of the vote. A former judge and educator, he holds a vice-chair position on the House Public Transportation committee and also sits on the influential House State Agencies committee.
Moody said Holcomb will have Democratic opposition when he runs in 2016