Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Rally Draws Crowd

Candidates for national and local offices were on hand Friday, May 3, to give their platforms at the Nevada County Democratic Central Committee and Lions Club rally.

Interested citizens gathered on the courthouse lawn, bringing lawn chairs and blankets to sit on while listening to the political hopefuls.

Davis Benton, chairman of the central committee, was the moderator, announcing the candidates and the offices they were seeking.

Unopposed candidates for city alderman and justice of the peace positions were given the first chance to speak. However, none were on hand.

Two candidates for U.S. Senate, though, were present and took advantage of the opportunity to address the public.

Winston Bryant, Arkansas' Attorney General, spoke first. This was because his name appears first on the ballot in Nevada County.

Bryant told those on hand he has family ties to Nevada County and has done well in the county in the races he's run.

"I need your help to win," he said, "and carry the banner against the Republicans in November.

"I'm deeply concerned about the future of Arkansas and America. The Republican Congress has the wrong set of priorities. I want to represent you and work to change these priorities."

Bryant said Congress is squeezing working families and doesn't care.

Congress, he said, doesn't care that working families can't save for retirement; can't save for their children's education; and can't save for emergencies.

"I came from a working family," he continued. "My father worked in a small factory and my mother took care of six children and my grandmother.

"My family knows about hard work, making do and the value of an education. I want to take these values to Washington, D.C. and represent you in the Senate."

He said something is wrong when the richest nation in the world wants to gut Medicare and give tax breaks to the rich, while cutting student loans and nutrition programs for children and spend billions protecting Germany and Japan.

"We need to bring this money home," he said.

"Farmers can't get money for their crops because Congress hasn't passed a farm bill. We can do better than that.

"I want to put Congress on the right course."

Bryant said he supports welfare reform and agrees with time limits on welfare benefits for those who are able to work. "We need to break the cycle and restore the family as the basic cornerstone."

Changing topics, Bryant said he's been tough on crime as attorney general. "We need tougher laws to keep violent offenders in jail where they belong.

"If someone commits a violent crime, they should serve 100 percent of the sentence they are given."

Bryant also favors term limits for national offices, saying the playing fields need to be leveled. "Congress needs fresh faces and new ideas so people will be properly represented," he said.

State Sen. Lu Hardin followed by saying the hardest decision he's ever made is to seek the slot of Sen. David Pryor, who is retiring.

"I have no desire to live in a city like Washington," he said. "But I'm ready to go. I have a passion to challenge the House and Senate to work for the good of the people and not their parties."

Hardin said his decision was pretty much made for him while watching C-Span and the Democrats and Republicans were "bickering like children."

"I knew then," he said, "we needed people there working for people and not for their own political careers. We need people who care about people."

Hardin said a lot of good people are quitting the House and Senate because of the political bickering and in- fighting. "If we're not careful," he said, "the Senate will be left to the extremists who don't care about this nation."

During his 14 years in the state senate, Hardin has chaired the education committee. He told the audience schools need to return to the basics and teach values -- this, he said, doesn't mean reading the Bible.

"President (Bill) Clinton said Republicans and Democrats need to work together for the children," Hardin said. "We do need representatives who care more about children than their parties."

Before it was popular, he said, he came up with a welfare plan which would deny benefits to any able bodied person unless they were doing community service or involved in a vocational education program.

Vocational schools, he said, are necessary to train people to work. "There is integrity in vocational education," Hardin said.

He said while welfare reform is needed, we (as a people) also need to crack down on crime. "We have tough laws," Hardin said. "We need officers to enforce those laws."

In an unusual move, Hardin said this race is about who the people trust and who they would be proud to have walk the halls of Congress for them.

He promised, if elected, to make the people proud, saying he's fought for family values throughout his 14 year career in the state senate.

No other candidates for Senate were at the rally. The other Senatorial hopefuls include Sandy McMath, Bill Bristow and Kevin Smith on the Democratic ticket, and Lt. Gov. Mike Huckabee as the lone member of the GOP.

W.H. "Dub" Arnold took advantage of the opportunity to tell people why they should elect him as Chief Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court.

His opponent, Lamar Pettus, wasn't there.

Arnold, however, talked of his experience as an attorney, a prosecuting attorney and as judge, where he has tried more than 300 cases in the 9th Judicial District.

Candidates for coroner spoke, with Keith Williams starting things off. He said there wasn't much to say about the office, but he would serve the county well, if elected.

Tommy Glass said he is running a clean campaign and sees no need for mudslinging. He told those present he is a member of the Nevada County Rescue Unit and a reserve deputy with the Nevada County Sheriff's Office.

Scott Logue was the final candidate to speak. He told of his qualifications and said he'd like to serve the county residents as their coroner.

From there, candidates for justice of the peace spoke.

Danny Miller, running for JP in district 3, kept it short and simple by telling those on hand he would appreciate their vote and would work hard for those in the district as well as the county.

J. Carroll Purtle, Miller's opposition, told the crowd he served as JP in a different district for six years, missing only one meeting in all that time.

The last two justices elected from district 3, he said, have not finished their terms. "I've proven I would be here to make decisions to help the county," he said.

"I tried not to raise taxes and we (the quorum court) gave raises when possible. We need people who will look ahead to where we need to go," he continu