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Presidential Hopefuls Set Sights on Arkansas’ Delegates

2 min read

LITTLE ROCK – The road to the White House this year runs through Arkansas, with four presidential hopefuls booking flight plans through the state as its primary approaches.

Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio announced plans Wednesday to campaign in the state in the weekend leading up to Arkansas’ primary on Tuesday. With a previously announced rally by billionaire and reality show star Donald Trump in northwest Arkansas set for Saturday, the visits mean the state will be crowded with presidential candidates.

State election officials are touting the visits as a sign lawmakers made the right choice in moving up the state’s primary from May, part of an effort to create a regional nominating contest in the southeast. Arkansas is among a dozen states that will hold nominating contests Tuesday.

“I’m seeing Arkansans paying more attention to the election than ever before,” said Secretary of State Mark Martin, a Republican. “Because they feel it’s not over yet. They’re going to be a part of it, so they’re energizing and talking in the coffee shops, in the co-ops, places like that.”

Clinton, the former secretary of state and U.S. senator from New York, will campaign in Pine Bluff on Sunday, her campaign said. Clinton, who is running against U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont for the Democratic nomination, served 12 years as Arkansas’ first lady and already has the backing of the state’s most prominent Democrats.

Rubio’s campaign, meanwhile, said the Republican U.S. senator from Florida will make visits to Bentonville on Saturday and campaign again in the state on Monday. Cruz, the Republican U.S. senator from Texas, will headline a rally in Little Rock on Saturday night and attend a church service in northwest Arkansas the following morning. Trump is headlining a rally in Bentonville on Saturday.

The three GOP hopefuls have been hunting for votes and endorsements in Arkansas since former Gov. Mike Huckabee dropped out of the race after a dismal showing in the Iowa caucuses earlier this month.

Top Republicans last year pushed for moving the primary up and argued the state wouldn’t have as much pull with a later nominating contest. The move only applied to this year’s election.

The lawmaker behind the change said he may propose making the March primary permanent if turnout exceeds expectations.

Martin has predicted about 22 percent of the state’s roughly 1.7 million voters will cast a ballot in this year’s primary. More than 92,000 Arkansans had cast a ballot by Wednesday afternoon during early voting, which began Feb. 16.

“It at least has given us a chance to have a say in who our nominee is going to be,” Republican Sen. Gary Stubblefield of Branch said. “In the past, it was over with by the time we got to Arkansas.”

(Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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