LITTLE ROCK – Focusing on issues important to working families will help Democrats in Arkansas as they try to rebound from a Republican sweep in last year’s midterm election, the party’s national chairwoman said Thursday night.
Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz vowed to work with the Arkansas party as it tries to move forward, months after Republicans completed their takeover of the top offices in a state that was once a Democratic stronghold in the South.
“Arkansas was long our bright spot in a deepening red South. … Now we have to do the hard work of turning it blue once again, and turn it blue we will,” the Florida congresswoman said a fundraiser for the state party honoring former U.S. Sen. David Pryor and his wife, Barbara.
Wasserman Schultz cited Arkansas voters approving a ballot measure to gradually raise the state’s minimum wage as a sign that Democrats’ agenda is resonating with the public.
“Even when our candidates don’t win, voters agree with us on the issues,” she said. “Which means to me that we need to do a better job making the case to voters that Democrats are on their side.”
Wasserman Schultz also criticized Republicans, accusing them of wanting to take the country backward and not focusing on the middle class.
“They keep trotting out the same ideas that voters have rejected in the past,” she said.
Republicans swept all statewide and federal offices in the November election, and expanded their majority in the state Legislature. The party’s losses included Republican Tom Cotton unseating two-term Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor, David Pryor’s son.
“We didn’t get into this hole overnight, and we’re not going to climb out overnight, but we’re focused at the national party on making sure our state parties that have suffered losses have the opportunity to rebuild, that we’re investing in them and helping make sure they have the strength they need to have candidates run on a strong platform and infrastructure,” she told reporters after her speech.
The state party expected to raise $90,000 from Thursday night’s fundraiser in downtown Little Rock.
David Pryor, who also is a former governor and congressman, said he still believed the party had a bright future.
“The Democratic party in this state and this country is going to be alive and well and forceful and we’re going to make a difference for generations to come,” he said.
(Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten, broadcast or distributed.)
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