LITTLE ROCK – Republicans have rarely wasted a chance over the past eight years to pin Democrats in Arkansas to President Barack Obama and other national leaders they portray as out of step with the state’s voters. With the prospect of billionaire Donald Trump leading the GOP ticket this fall, Democrats in the state relish the idea of borrowing the same line of attack.
Trump’s victory in Arkansas and several other states in the Super Tuesday primaries, along with the prospect of Hillary Clinton winning the Democratic nomination, is raising hope among Arkansas Democrats that there’s a way to rebound after recent Republican sweeps in the state. It’s still a very narrow path for Democrats in a state where the GOP controls all statewide and federal offices, as well as a majority in both chambers of the Legislature.
Arkansas hasn’t voted for a Democrat for president since former President Bill Clinton’s re-election in 1996. His wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, easily won Tuesday’s primary in her adopted home state.
“I think the advantage becomes even more promising if they nominate someone who wants to build walls instead of tearing down barriers,” said state Democratic Party Chairman Vince Insalaco, who had endorsed Clinton, referring to Trump’s asking that a wall be built along the Mexico border.
Republicans dismiss Insalaco’s comments as wishful thinking, especially since nearly twice as many voters cast a ballot in the GOP presidential primary in the state as they did in the Democratic contest.
“The state Democratic Party took a shellacking tonight. Their enthusiasm is down, and the enthusiasm for Republicans in this state and across the country is up,” state GOP Chairman Doyle Webb said Tuesday night.
But the bigger risk could be Democrats linking Republicans to Trump and his provocative statements – which include a proposed ban on Muslims entering the country – in a handful of down-ballot races around the state. They include Democrat Conner Eldridge’s longshot bid to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. John Boozman in November and potentially some state legislative races.
It would be a familiar strategy, just with the roles reversed. Republicans over the past three election cycles have regularly portrayed Democrats running for seats at nearly every level of government in Arkansas as too cozy with the president, who remains deeply unpopular in the state.
“I think anybody who has observed the last six years in Arkansas know there are some of those ties that hurt down-ballot races,” said House Speaker Jeremy Gillam, who backed Marco Rubio’s bid for the nomination and has stopped short of saying whether he’d support Trump as the nominee. “You have to be concerned about that with any candidate. His particular style probably raises a lot more concern.”
Though he’s said he’ll back Trump as the nominee, Gov. Asa Hutchinson hasn’t shied away from sharing those concerns about the party’s frontrunner for the nomination. Hutchinson, who had campaigned for Rubio and appeared in a television ad for the Florida senator in the days leading up to the primary, has called some of Trump’s comments “frightening” and said the billionaire needs to prove to voters he can act presidential.
“If he shifts his demeanor, if he shifts his structure, his comments, his discipline so that he can come across and show he can lead not just America but also lead the Republican Party, then you will see more of the establishment saying he will be an acceptable nominee,” Hutchinson said the day after the primary. “If he continues down a divisive path then there will be greater concern about the down-ticket races, governor races and Senate races and what’s that going to do in impacting those candidates?”
But even if he passes Hutchinson’s test, it’s not a guarantee he can expect the governor to stump on his behalf.
When asked whether he’d actively campaign for Trump in the fall, Hutchinson responded: “We’ll see. I have a state to run.”
Andrew DeMillo has covered Arkansas government and politics for The Associated Press since 2005. Follow him on Twitter at Twitter.com/ademillo.
(Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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