EDITOR'S NOTE: A large portion of this article was inadvertently omitted from Wednesday's edition, and is being reprinted in its entirety today. The newspaper regrets any inconvenience to our readers.
A Hot Springs Republican who said he hopes to entice small businesses to the area announced on Tuesday he would enter the Republican primary against state Rep. Laurie Rushing, R-District 26.
The challenger, Ernie Hinz, declined to offer specifics for his stated goal of expanding on recent development in Hot Springs to smaller nearby towns such as Malvern and Bismarck.
Hinz, 67, is the president of the nonprofit Faces Foundation, which helps patients receive facial reconstruction surgery. According to a recently launched campaign website, Hinz also has experience working with community groups including the Rotary Club, the Boy Scouts and the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival.
In a brief phone interview, Hinz said he first got the idea to run for office about 20 years ago, but opted out due to family commitments. Now, Hinz said, he still has policy to study to make a clear stance on issues in the state House.
Hinz said he did not know of any votes Rushing, the incumbent, had made that he disagreed with.
He said seeing businesses moving into downtown Hot Springs was a good sign for economic development in the area.
"I see the state is already moving in that direction with the governor, and we need to build on that," Hinz said.
Rushing, 49, a Realtor from Hot Springs who is in her second term, has made bolstering visitation rights for grandparents a chief cause during her tenure. She's said in committee meetings that she's been blocked from seeing her own grandchildren after her daughter died.
Rushing said in the state Capitol on Tuesday she is a supporter of Arkansas' "private-option" Medicaid expansion program. She voted last year to continue funding for it.
The program, which provides health insurance to about 285,000 low-income Arkansans, has been a closely divided issue in the Legislature, with some Republicans opposing its cost.
Hinz said he would "look into that bill more closely" when asked if he supports the Medicaid expansion, also known as Arkansas Works.
Other than economic development, Hinz said he'd make infrastructure -- especially highway maintenance and bridge replacement -- an issue in his campaign.
The money for such projects, he said, could come from other areas of the state budget.
"I'm not sure [the funding] is not already in there," Hinz said when asked if he would support a gas tax, which he said he would be hesitant to do. Hinz said he did not know of any programs or departments where he saw room to cut the budget.
The primary for House District 26 will be held on May 22.
No Democrats have announced plans to run in the district, which includes parts of Garland and Hot Spring counties.
Local on 02/22/2018