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Womack Faces Easy Path in House Re-Election Bid

3 min read

LITTLE ROCK — With no Democratic rival on the ballot and facing only a third-party candidate who’s says he’s running a “zero dollar” campaign, Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Womack has an easy path to a third term representing northwest Arkansas in Congress next year.

But, running in his second election in a row where he won’t have a Democratic challenger, Womack insists he’s not looking at launching a bid for statewide office after raising his profile in the GOP and in Washington.

“I’m looking at being the very best member of Congress that I can possibly be, and that’s where my single solitary focus is today. … There’ll be a season for other opportunities perhaps down the road, but right now it’s not that season,” Womack said.

Womack, 57, represents the 3rd Congressional District in northwest Arkansas, a longtime Republican stronghold in a state that has been increasingly trending toward the GOP in recent elections. No Democrats filed to run against him this year. His only challenger is Libertarian nominee Grant Brand, 33, a warehouse supervisor at a nonprofit in Pea Ridge.

Brand, who says he’s not raising any money for his bid, says his top priorities include eliminating the Federal Reserve and replacing the federal income tax with a national sales tax.

“There are so many things I’d like to see us do to push us back towards the Constitution,” Brand said.

Womack, who sits on the House Appropriations Committee, said he hopes to use his third term to focus on reforms to the country’s tax, regulatory and energy policies.

“If we can make changes in each of those three critical areas, there’s no limit to the upside of reinventing our manufacturing economy and the productivity of the U.S.,” Womack said.

Womack was first elected in 2010 among a wave of Republicans who won that year after running primarily against the federal health care law. Womack said he supports the law’s repeal, but that a more politically realistic goal while President Barack Obama remains in office may be dismantling or scaling back the overhaul.

“If we are in a position to chisel away at some of the more problematic pieces of this health care law, then I think there’s some success to be gained there,” he said.

Womack said he’ll also keep pushing for legislation to limit tax-free shopping online. Under the Marketplace Fairness Act co-sponsored by Womack, states could require out-of-state retailers to collect sales taxes when they sell products over the Internet, in catalogs, and through radio and TV ads. The sales taxes would be sent to the states where a shopper lives. Current law says states can only require retailers to collect sales taxes if the merchant has a physical presence in the state.

Womack said he believes there’s a chance to move forward with the legislation during the lame-duck session, and said its best prospect may be to tie the legislation to a moratorium preventing state and local governments from taxing access to the Internet.

(Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten, broadcast or distributed.)
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