The Arkansas House of Representatives District 10 race features Democratic incumbent Mike Holcomb and Republican challenger Patricia Mays for a post serving portions of Lincoln, Cleveland, Grant, Drew and Jefferson counties.
Holcomb is a Democrat who was elected in 2012. Mays is a Republican and industrial engineer who is seeking her first public office.
Mays touts revamping the health care system, lowering taxes, reducing governmental waste and increasing transparency. She supports human life above all else.
“Protecting life is the most fundamental right,” Mays said. “I believe God gave the right to life. We do not have the right to kill. I oppose abortion and euthanasia.
“Our country is founded on liberty, so the government does not tell the people what to do,” Mays said. “We tell the government what to do.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
On education, Mays supports School Choice to allow parents to choose where to send their children. She wants to repeal the Common Core curriculum, pass a parents rights bills, pass Medicaid reform, defund the private option, protect property ownership and prevent tax increases.
“I want parents to be able to choose their school because they know their children best,” Mays said. “I want to expand the law to charter schools and private schools. Other states are expanding School Choice laws and it is bringing success.”
Mays said that there is a direct link between a person with little education, limited employment opportunities, financial struggles and crime.
“People do not become criminals if they have an education and direction,” Mays said.
“Reform the public school system. Teachers are not allowed to teach because they are doing bureaucracy,” she said. “The majority of Arkansans oppose the Common Core. We are tired of the government running over us.”
On health care reform, Mays said the private option is not a good idea because it is not economically feasible.
“I will help people get a better insurance program,” she said. “Elderly people and poor children are being pushed aside.”
As an industrial engineering with a Ph.D., Mays said she uses scientific and mathematical principles to study problems, obtain facts and avoid emotionally based answers.
Mays said that Arkansans are taxed to death.
“We need to leave the term limits as they are,” Mays said.
She opposes Arkansas Act 60: closing schools with an enrollment less than 350.
Mike Holcomb is a retired educator and former county judge and deputy sheriff. Holcomb said he is concerned about overcrowded jails, offering pre-school, improving K-12 education, creating jobs, using existing technologies to leverage opportunities and tapping into commercial shipping markets.
“Jail overcrowding is a concern,” Holcomb said. “It costs a county $44 per day to house a prisoner, but the state pays us $28 per inmate. The best way to help the county is to let Louisiana accept the prisoners if it works out financially. We have to help our county judges.”
Arkansas public officeholders have been discussing building new prisons. Holcomb said he would look into existing vacant buildings to convert into prisons. Otherwise, he would consider building new prisons but cautions against spending money without analyzing any project.
“The overcrowding prisons brings about a host of unintended consequences,” he said. “A lack of safety is an equally pressing problem.”
People who deserve to be arrested are not arrested because the jails are overcrowded, he said. As a result, law enforcement officers are issuing citations, Holcomb said.
“Turning people loose on a street is not the viable option either, but that is common. This is happening all the time,” Holcomb said. “We have got to find relief pretty quickly.”
Holcomb said he supports offering pre-kindergarten education.
“We (the Arkansas House of Representatives) are trying to get broadband into our schools,” Holcomb said. “We have someone who will visit schools and inquire about broadband capabilities. I think that will be a big help.”
The Arkansas Delta is home to many poor people who do not have computers, he said. However, their children will have access to computers at school.
“Psychiatrists recommend reading to your kids when they are little,” Holcomb said. “Not everyone needs a four-year degree. An associate degree is valuable.
“I value vocational education because we need welders, cobblers and maintenance people. People leave Arkansas, get a four-year degree and do not return to Arkansas,” he said. “I know of successful automotive programs at high schools. A lot of young people are not college-bound. They want to work with their hands, and we need people to work with their hands. There are really good apprentice programs.”
In an effort to bring more jobs, Holcomb said Arkansas is falling behind neighboring states by not having deep ports. He said infrastructure is a huge concern across the state.
“The Panama Canal is being made deeper. We are going to have to upgrade our ports,” Holcomb said. “We do not need to send billions of dollars to other nations. We need to make connections with Texas to do some things to take advantage. Arkansas will not benefit without deeper ports. Economic development hinges on deeper ports.”