U.S. Sen. John Boozman will face challenger Curtis Coleman in the GOP primary in March.
LITTLE ROCK — When he won a U.S. Senate seat in Arkansas six years ago, John Boozman was the only Republican in Washington representing a state considered reliably Democratic territory. With Republicans now in control of all of Arkansas’ statewide and federal offices, Boozman is facing a longshot primary challenge from a rival questioning his conservative credentials.
Boozman, 65, faces North Little Rock businessman Curtis Coleman in the March 1 primary. The winner will advance to the November general election against Democrat Conner Eldridge and Libertarian nominee Frank Gilbert.
It’s a familiar matchup for Boozman, who defeated Coleman and six other rivals in the GOP primary before defeating Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln in the 2010 election. Coleman, 68, won 5 percent of the vote in the 2010 GOP primary and won 27 percent when he ran unsuccessfully for the Republican gubernatorial nomination two years ago.
Coleman trails Boozman in fundraising and the incumbent senator is backed by conservative groups including the National Rifle Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Right to Life Committee. But Coleman’s trying to paint the freshman senator as a moderate.
“I just think John’s a really nice guy who has a tendency to go along to get along,” Coleman said.
Boozman’s pushed back at the criticism, saying: “I’ve been called lots of things, but not being conservative enough is not one of those.”
Coleman has targeted Boozman for voting for the $1.01 trillion budget bill in late 2014, saying he’d oppose any budget bill that doesn’t block the president’s immigration policies, the federal health overhaul or Planned Parenthood funding. Coleman said fighting measures like the health care law is “absolutely” worth threatening a government shutdown.
“I’ve been frustrated because I think too many in the leadership of the Republican Party have fought these battles beginning at a point of surrender,” Coleman said.
Boozman defended his record, noting that he’s voted repeatedly for repealing the federal health overhaul and voted against the budget bill last year.
“I’m not a guy that believes in shutting down the government,” Boozman said. “There are so many other things that we’re working hard to change, but I don’t believe you should shut the government down.”
Coleman has also repeatedly criticized Boozman for past votes to raise the debt ceiling. Boozman, a former congressman, said most of those votes were under former President George W. Bush and came as the country was at war in Afghanistan and Iraq following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He noted he voted against raising the debt limit last year.
There’s little difference between the two on social issues. Both oppose same-sex marriage and said they disagreed with the U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing gay and lesbian couples to wed. Boozman opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest and the life of the mother, while Coleman says the life of the mother is the only exception he supports.
Both have also said they don’t think President Barack Obama should nominate a replacement for the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, and should leave the decision to the next president.
Boozman said he doesn’t want to commit American troops to battling the Islamic State, but said he doesn’t think that should be taken off the table as an option.
“I don’t think you gain anything by telegraphing to your enemy what you can and cannot do,” Boozman said.
Coleman said he thinks there should be a formal declaration of war against the Islamic State, but would like to avoid using U.S. troops as an option.
“If there are other ways to fight this battle, through airpower or through drones or through allies, those would be my first options,” he said.
(Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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