LITTLE ROCK -- Republican Sen. John Boozman's fight against Democratic challenger Conner Eldridge has drawn barely a fraction of the money and attention of the 2014 Senate race, when national groups and candidates bombarded Arkansas' airwaves with ads.
This year's race, which also features Libertarian nominee Frank Gilbert, isn't widely viewed as a competitive for Democrats in a state that has become firmly GOP territory in recent years. And unlike Republican Tom Cotton's rout of then-Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor in 2014 -- which featured a flurry of TV ads for more than a year -- Boozman and Eldridge have only begun airing spots over the past month.
Eldridge remains hopeful that there's a path to victory. The 39-year-old former U.S. attorney for the Western District of Arkansas regularly compliments Boozman as a "nice man," but follows that up by saying the incumbent lawmaker has done little for the state.
"He just sort of goes along to get along and hasn't accomplished anything. That's really the distinction in this race," Eldridge said. "I got in this race because I believe in strongly, positively, aggressively trying to make a difference for all Arkansans every day."
His 65-year-old Republican opponent regularly assails Eldridge for being an appointee of President Barack Obama, who remains deeply unpopular in the state, and says his rival is misrepresenting his record.
"I'm running on the issues and represent the conservative values the people of Arkansas have learned to expect: smaller government, fiscal responsibility, rebuilding our military, getting some confidence in our economy," Boozman said.
Eldridge has criticized Boozman for his repeated votes to repeal the federal health overhaul, a move he says would leave more than 300,000 people on the state's hybrid Medicaid expansion without coverage. Eldridge won't say how he would've voted on the 2010 legislation, but doesn't want to see it repealed and seeks changes such as an increase in the tax credit that small businesses receive for providing coverage.
"I don't think we need to scrap the whole thing and go back to a day when 300,000 Arkansans didn't have health insurance and depended on the emergency room and ultimately, for many, bankruptcy to get treated," Eldridge said.
Boozman, however, said states could cover the uninsured through a block-grant system that would give them more freedom to spend federal dollars, and has called for what he calls "free market" reforms, like allowing people to purchase insurance across state lines.
"There's nothing in the Obamacare bill to control costs," Boozman said. "It's more unaffordable than ever."
The two also have tangled over the U.S. Supreme Court. Boozman has joined other Republicans in saying that the late Justice Antonin Scalia's vacancy shouldn't be filled by Obama, which has prompted Eldridge to accuse the lawmaker of not doing his constitutional duty.
Presidential politics play into the race as well, with Eldridge criticizing Boozman for not dropping his support of GOP nominee Donald Trump despite the billionaire's controversial comments, including his lewd comments caught on tape in 2005 bragging about groping and kissing women without their consent. Boozman has condemned those comments and has likewise targeted Eldridge over his support of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, citing questions about her use of a private email server as secretary of state.
State Desk on 10/24/2016