LITTLE ROCK — Fresh from their wins in Tuesday’s Democratic primary runoffs, state Sen. Gene Jeffress of Louann and Jonesboro Prosecutor Scott Ellington were regrouping Wednesday for general-election races in which both face opponents who have so far outstripped them in fundraising.
Jeffress and Ellington both said they will need to raise more money for their campaigns and said they plan to spend money on television advertising, something they did not do in the primary.
With no paid campaign staff and little money, Jeffress defeated Hot Springs lawyer Q. Byrum Hurst in the 4th District runoff and faces Republican Tom Cotton of Dardanelle in the Nov. 6 general election. There is no incumbent because U.S. Rep Mike Ross, D-Prescott, chose not to seek re-election.
Jeffress said Wednesday he has already begun talk to people about hosting some fundraisers, but he didn’t think his campaign style would change significantly for the general election. He said meeting people and shaking their hand is the best way to win their vote.
“I guarantee you people want to see you out there, and we’re going to run that same race all through until November,” he said.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
During the primary, Jeffress raised about $38,000 and spent just $31,000. Cotton raised more than $1 million and spent more than $400,000, much of that on television ads.
“We’re going to raise some funds, but I’m sure he is not going to stop where he is at either,” Jeffress said. “If we can raise where he is at right now, hey, we’ll be in the race.”
After Jeffress was nominated Tuesday night, Cotton sent out a press release congratulating the Democrat and hoping they can have a civil race that discusses the issues of the rising debt, Medicare and the repeal of President Obama’s 2010 health care reform law.
Jeffress said he also hopes the race can be civil and that he would love to talk about saving Medicare and lowering the debt.
On health care, Jeffress said the 2010 law is currently before the U.S. Supreme and there is nothing that he nor Cotton can do right now. He said he likes many of the provisions in the law but has concerns about others.
“I do think we need health care reform,” he said.
Ellington narrowly defeated state Rep. Clark Hall of Marvell in the 1st District race Tuesday. He won by less than 300 votes, 51 percent to 49 percent.
Ellington faces incumbent Congressman Rick Crawford of Jonesboro in the Nov. 6 general election.
Hall criticized Ellington during the primary race over his decision to broker a plea deal that freed three men convicted in 1993 in the deaths of three West Memphis second-graders. The deal allowed the men known as the West Memphis Three to plead guilty yet maintain their innocence.
Ellington said Wednesday he was not concerned about the possibility of the plea deal being used against him in the general election.
“I think we see that it didn’t get very far” in the primary election, he said.
Hall was the primary candidate favored by the Democratic establishment, receiving endorsements from a number of Democratic elected officials. Ellington said Wednesday he had already been contacted and promised support by one of those officials, Ross.
Ellington estimated that he would need to raise between $700,000 and $800,000 to get his general-election campaign started. He said he expects to receive support from the national Democratic Party.
A call Wednesday to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee seeking comment was not immediately returned.
Ellington raised nearly $75,000 for the primary and spent $73,000. Crawford has raised $830,000 and spent $440,000.
Ellington’s biggest wins over Hall were in Craighead County and surrounding counties. He said Wednesday that for the general election, where his opponent also is from Jonesboro, he will work to build support in outlying counties.
“I think that I will reach out to those folks and be able to connect, because I’m just a real guy. … I try not to be anything other than just who I am,” he said.
Ellington said he believes Crawford was swept into office in 2010 by a “red tide” that favored Republicans in general, but he believes voters will be more discriminating this year. He said he expects Republicans to try to tie him to President Obama and issues like health care reform, but “I am not running with the national race, I am not running against the national race. I am running my own race.”
Ellington was asked if he supports the 2010 health care law.
“If you’re focusing just on the people in the 1st Congressional District, I don’t know that it’s a bad thing,” he said. “Nationally, we hear (it has) issues. I think we wait and see what the Supreme Court does with it, and if the Supreme Court overturns it then it’ll be a new day and we’ll have to address health care then.”
Political analysts on Wednesday gave Jeffress slim odds of winning in November and gave Ellington only slightly better odds.
“I don’t think Jeffress has much of a chance, quite honestly,” said Art English, a political science professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. “I just don think he will be able to raise the kind of money that would be needed.”
Jay Barth, a political science professor at Hendrix College and a member of the executive committee of the Democratic Party of Arkansas, said Jeffress’ low-budget campaign may have worked in the primary, but it likely will not be enough in the general election.
“He was able to make this personal, voter-by-voter campaign work in a really small electorate,” he said, adding Jeffress also had name recognition among Democrats because of his 12 years in the Legislature.
“I think in the general that it is really hard to do that old-style politics,” Barth said, noting that more voters will be going to the polls in November because of the presidential election. “In that case, the money advantage, the campaign ads that Cotton is going to run, really override what he can do with his more traditional-style politics.”
Barth and English both said Wednesday that Ellington could defeat Crawford if he can raise money for television advertising and win over voters in rural areas of the district who voted for Hall in the primary.
English said he would give Ellington a 30 to 40 percent chance of winning if he receives support from the national Democratic Party.
“I think if resources are going to be given, they are going to be given to Ellington,” English said.
But Hal Bass, a political science professor at Ouachita Baptist University, said the national party may pass over Arkansas entirely.
“In a triage situation, where there are more races than money to contest them, I not sure you’re going to see Arkansas races making the cut,” he said.