LITTLE ROCK — The state Democratic Party said Monday it won’t grant a spot on the ballot to a would-be House candidate who was convicted of a felony.
Fred Smith filed to run for the District 50 House seat Thursday in the final minutes of the candidate filing period. The former Harlem Globetrotter was elected to the seat in 2010 but resigned early in the 2011 legislative session after being convicted of felony theft in Chicot County Circuit Court.
State Democratic Party spokeswoman Candace Martin said Monday that Smith claimed his conviction had been expunged, but the party has determined that no such order exists. Convicted felons are ineligible to hold elected office in Arkansas.
Martin said the party sent a letter to Smith’s attorney Monday advising that he is ineligible to run.
“He will not run as a member of the Democratic Party of Arkansas,” Martin said.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The Chicot County Circuit Clerk’s Office confirmed Monday that no expungement order has been issued in the case nor has a motion for one been filed.
When contacted by phone Monday for comment, Smith said, “Let me just get back with you in one minute” and hung up. Several hours later he had not returned the call, and calls to his phone went to voicemail.
Martin said the party will give Smith 24 hours to decide whether to withdraw his candidacy voluntarily. If he does, the party will return his $3,000 filing fee, but if he refuses to withdraw the fee will be forfeited, she said.
Smith also signed a pledge last week that he has never been convicted of a felony. A person can be charged in Arkansas with perjury for making a false statement on a political practices pledge.
Martin said the party is not pursuing a criminal complaint against Smith at this time but did not rule out the possibility in the future.
The secretary of state’s office will not pursue any action against Smith because it is a filing agency, not a reporting agency, said spokesman Alex Reed.
“If anybody were to challenge it, it won’t be our office,” Reed said.
State Rep. Hudson Hallum, D-Marion, is seeking re-election to the District 50 seat he won in a special election after Smith resigned. No Republican filed for the office.