Jan Morgan
, the Hot Springs gun range owner, announced her expected Republican candidacy for governor at a New Year’s Eve party in Hot Springs.

Here’s a link to her 10-minute announcement speech.

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She says  people know politicians are “taxing them into poverty, regulating them out of business and enslaving them with government entitlements.”

Among her specific references:

* She wants required roll call votes in legislative committee, no voice votes.

* She seems to want to put an end to corporate handouts of tax money, such as the governor’s quick closing fund, and specifically criticized handouts to foreign companies. I’m guessing we’ll hear more about the enormous commitment made to Chinese companies to locate here.

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* Taxes were cut in some places, but raised in others, she complained. The tax burden needs to be reduced, she says. And, of course, it can be done without a loss of vital services by cutting “waste.”

* Health care. She suggests the Arkansas adoption of Medicaid expansion had made insurance more expensive and harder to get. “Socialized medicine,” she calls it. The best government intervention in health care is none, she said.

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* Guns. This is a signature issue for Morgan on cable TV network appearances. “Arkansas is a constitutional carry state,” she said. She calls Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s statement that prosecutors have some leeway in interpreting the open carry law was “the most egregious statement made by an elected politician this year.”

She’s a “born-again Christian” and “genetically conservative” and, among other attributes, “I ride my own Harley.” She won early fame for banning Muslims forom her gun range, a policy that come to light after she ran off some dark-skinned Hindus. She claimed they were acting strangely and were not banned on account of their skin color.

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Interesting development overnight: Morgan yesterday touted a Facebook post by “Wild Bill” who offers $1,000 to anyone who can prove a permit is legally necessary to carry a concealed weapon in Arkansas. That page has now been disabled.

I’m seeking a response from Hutchinson’s camp. I expect he’ll welcome her to the fray.

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UPDATE: From the governor’s campaign:

“The Governor welcomes another candidate to the race. Running for office is the marketplace for ideas and the Governor will run on his record of conservative, common sense policies like $150 million in tax cuts and creating jobs by the tens of thousands. Arkansas is prospering under his leadership. It is also about the future and specific goals will be presented in the coming months”

Morgan will spice up the race, no doubt. I’d be inclined at the outset to say that, while the Republican primary vote is more extreme politically than the state as a whole, it’s hard to imagine it as extreme as would be necessary for Morgan to win the nomination. But the Alabama Senate primary between Luther Strange and Roy Moore is a cautionary tale on that point. Following is some video she posted of her party last night.

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