Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Bruce Harris To Seek Nomination

Bruce Harris says he's the only candidate in the race for the 4th Congressional District who has any experience on the federal level.

Harris, who is seeking the office as a Democrat, has worked with Rep. Marion Berry and Sen. Blanche Lincoln-Lambert.

While Lambert was representative, Harris worked as her chief agricultural advisor, as well as being her legislative assistant.

His duties primarily focused in the agri realm, where he worked on transportation and energy issues for one of the largest agricultural districts in the nation.

With Berry, Harris was responsible for a $1 million annual budget while supervising 18 employees in two states.

While working as Berry's chief of staff, Harris was only 27-years-old, and he was one of the youngest in the House to hold such a position of responsibility.

"I'm the only candidate in the race with the most experience," he said. "I think we need someone who will keep the focus on Jay Dickey's record. He uses other people's records against them."

Dickey is the GOP incumbent at this time.

Harris entered this race for several reasons. One, his family has a background of public service.

His grandfather was the longest serving chief justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court in the state's history.

"I was raised to believe in public service," Harris said. "This is a good time to run. People want an alternative."

If elected, Harris plans to work on reducing the federal deficit. Even though the nation has a balanced budget, he said, it still owes $5.6 trillion. This breaks down to every person in the United States owing $23,000.

If the debt isn't eliminated, he said, the federal government won't be able to prop up the ailing Social Security program, nor will Medicare be solvent.

Additionally, he said, with the debt gone, every taxpayer would be getting larger returns than they would with the proposed GOP tax cut.

"This affects all other areas," he said.

Education is another major issue in Harris' political plank. He said south Arkansas schools need to reduce class size and rural districts need help in getting on the Internet and taking advantage of distance learning programs.

"This solution is tailor made for rural America," Harris said. "Economic growth is directly tied to education."

Industry, he continued, looks at roads in an area, then turns its attention to the workforce education. If it's not there, industry goes elsewhere.

"I feel good about it," Harris said of the race. "We've been traveling a lot, talking to people. People my age need to get involved in public service. In too many communities the leaders are 55 and older. Young people aren't interested."

Harris is the son of Judge Eugene (Kayo) Harris and the former Kathryn Crow of Warren.

He was raised and educated in Pine Bluff, attending college at the University of Arkansas where he earned a B.A. in English and communications.