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James Lee Witt to Run for Arkansas’ 4th District Congressional Seat

3 min read

LITTLE ROCK – Former Federal Emergency Management Agency Director announced he was running for a south Arkansas congressional seat on Tuesday, giving Democrats a high-profile candidate as they try to rebound from Republican gains in the state.

Witt, who headed FEMA from 1993 through 2001, announced on a conference call that he was seeking the party’s nomination for the 4th Congressional District. Witt served as Arkansas’ emergency management director under Bill Clinton, who nominated Witt to head FEMA.

“I’ve spent my adult life bringing people together at the toughest times of their lives and dealing with disasters,” Witt said. “Nowhere needs disaster relief more than Washington. No place needs to be brought together more than Congress.”

Witt, 69, is the second Democrat to announce a bid for the 4th District, currently represented by Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton. Cotton is running to oust Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, which will leave his congressional seat open next year. Janis Percefull, a community college instructor from Hot Springs, announced in July she also was running for the seat.

State House Majority Leader Bruce Westerman and Hot Springs businessman Tommy Moll are seeking the Republican nomination. Beth Anne Rankin, who won the party’s nomination for the seat in 2010 and lost the GOP primary last year, announced Tuesday she would not run for the party’s nomination next year.

State and national Democrats had been urging Witt to run for the seat, believing his candidacy would boost the party’s chances of rebounding from recent Republican gains in Arkansas. The GOP swept all four of Arkansas’ U.S. House seats in last year’s election, and also won control of the state Legislature for the first time since Reconstruction.

On Tuesday, Witt offered few specifics on what his platform would be for the seat, saying he planned a more formal campaign announcement later.

But he did say he would have voted against President Barack Obama’s signature health care law. Republicans have made gains in Arkansas in recent years primarily by running against the president and the 2010 law.

“I think there’s some changes that need to be made to that law, and I look forward to working to make those changes,” said Witt, who declined to detail the changes he’d like to see.

Witt, however, praised the state’s compromise plan to expand insurance coverage through the law by using federal Medicaid funds to purchase private insurance for thousands of low-income residents. Westerman was a vocal opponent of the plan in the Legislature, touted as an alternative to expanding Medicaid, and has said he’ll push for its defunding when state lawmakers convene for next year’s session.

Witt, a former Yell County judge, was credited with repairing the reputation of FEMA, which had suffered following the agency’s response to Hurricane Andrew. He headed the agency during hundreds of high-profile disasters, including the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

Republicans, however, were quick to criticize his lobbying firm’s work since he left the agency. On Tuesday, they criticized the amount of money his firm made through a contract with the state of Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina.

“The last thing hardworking Arkansas families need in Washington is just another self-serving politician like James Lee Witt,” state GOP Chairman Doyle Webb said in a statement issued before Witt’s announcement.

Witt defended his firm’s work in Louisiana, saying its rates are approved by the federal government and are subject to auditing to make sure everything is billed appropriately.

The 4th District is one of two open U.S. House seats Democrats are hopeful they can reclaim in Arkansas, after Republican U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin announced last month he wouldn’t seek re-election to his 2nd Congressional District seat in 2014.

(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten, broadcast or distributed.)
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