LITTLE ROCK – Two Arkansas lawmakers say Democratic state Rep. Mike Holcomb of Pine Bluff is switching parties and becoming a Republican.
Holcomb planned to announce the party switch at a news conference Thursday afternoon, according to the lawmakers, who had spoken directly to the two-term legislator about his decision. They spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid pre-empting his official announcement.
Holcomb was elected to the state House in 2012 and re-elected last year. Holcomb did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Holcomb is the first Democratic legislator to leave the party since Republicans swept statewide and federal offices in the November election. The GOP already holds a majority in the state House and Senate. Holcomb’s switch gives Republicans 64 of the 100 seats in the House.
Holcomb plans to seek a third term as a Republican next year, the lawmakers said. Holcomb is the second state legislator to change parties this year. Rep. Nate Bell of Mena in June announced he was leaving the Republican Party and declared himself an independent. Bell is not seeking re-election next year.
Holcomb has split with the Democratic Party’s top leaders on some issues. In 2013, he supported a pair of abortion bans – one banning the procedure 12 weeks into a woman’s pregnancy and another at 20 weeks – that were vetoed by then-Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe. The Republican-led Legislature overrode both of Beebe’s vetoes.
A federal appeals court in May upheld a judge’s ruling striking down the 12-week ban as unconstitutional.
Holcomb, however, voted against a voter ID law that year that was backed by top Republicans in the state. The Arkansas Supreme Court last year struck down the voter ID law.
Holcomb has also supported the state’s “private option” Medicaid expansion, which uses federal funds to purchase private insurance for the poor. Crafted as an alternative to the Medicaid expansion envisioned under the federal health overhaul, the private option has sharply divided Republicans and prompted primary challenges for GOP lawmakers who supported it.
Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Wednesday told lawmakers he supports continuing the program if the federal government will allow the state to impose new limits on eligibility and benefits.
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