Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of stories selected by the staff of The Commercial as the Top 10 local news stories of 2011.
U.S. Rep. Mike Ross, D-Prescott, announced in July that he would not seek re-election to a seventh term in Congress and would instead consider running for governor.
Ross, who has represented south Arkansas in Congress since 2001, has said he will decide whether to launch a gubernatorial campaign sometime in 2013.
“I have received a lot of encouragement to run for governor of Arkansas when Gov. (Mike) Beebe’s last term ends in 2014,” Ross said during the Little Rock news conference in which he announced his decision. “I’ve always been very up front and honest in the fact that as a fifth-generation Arkansan I love our state and would like very much to help lead it at some point in the future.”
Ross, a former pharmacy owner, also cited a desire to spend more time with his family and frustration with partisanship in Congress as factors.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“I never believed that my service in the U.S. Congress should become a permanent career,” he said. “This seat never belonged to me. It belongs to the people of Arkansas. And I know there are many bright people in Arkansas ready to step up, go to Washington and offer a new generation of leadership.”
The decision opened up the playing field for a competitive election in District 4, of which Jefferson County is a part. Republicans hope to take over the historically Democratic district, which expanded to take on more counties in western and central Arkansas as part of redistricting after the results of the 2010 Census.
Currently, District 4 is the only one of Arkansas’ four House seats to be held by a Democrat. Sen. Mark Pryor is the only other Democrat representing Arkansas in Congress.
Republicans made historic gains in taking over other Congressional seats and many state-level seats in the 2010 election. If they succeed in their goal of winning Ross’ seat in 2012, it would be the first time for all of Arkansas’ House seats to be held by Republicans since Reconstruction.
Ross is one of several Blue Dog Democrats to announce plans not to run for re-election. The moderate caucus has seen its influence diminish since losing half its membership in the 2010 elections.