Posted on 01/27/2010 5:59:23 PM PST by Clintonfatigued
Barring a last-minute change of heart, Rep. John Boozman (R) appears set to jump into the Arkansas Senate race in the coming days.
Sources on Capitol Hill said Wednesday that Boozman, the lone GOP Member of the state’s congressional delegation, has made it clear that he intends to challenge Democrat Blanche Lincoln in November. Boozman already has much of his Senate campaign team in place and the announcement is expected to take place in Arkansas before the weekend is out.
When asked about a potential Senate bid Wednesday, a spokeswoman for Boozman would only say “nothing has been announced officially.”
By taking on Lincoln, Boozman will attempt to do what his brother, former state Sen. Fay Boozman, could not. Fay Boozman challenged Lincoln in the open seat Senate race in 1998 and John Boozman worked for his brother on that campaign. Fay Boozman lost that race by 13 points. He died in an accident in 2005.
Boozman spoke with National Republican Senatorial Committee officials and other Senate leaders this week following the firestorm he created last week by openly acknowledging that he was considering making a Senate run.
(Excerpt) Read more at cqpolitics.com ...
First the Hutchinson brothers, now the Boozman brothers. The GOP doesn’t have that deep a bench in Arkansas. I expect that will change some this year, regardless of whether Boozman wins the primary.
Our Republicans here in Arkansas have pretty much ruined any chances for success for years. I hope that changes this year.
I know John and he’s a good guy. He’s a straight arrow, low key to the point of laconic, and from what I know a conservative down the line. He also has a cracker jack staff who is pretty much in my territory philosophically.
Ironically one of the reasons we have hit it off so well is he is an eye doctor and I suffer from catastrophic eye problems.
We were introduced by a mutual friend many years ago.
I don’t see Boozeman’s name in the hat as a positive. The primary crowd is already crowded. Boozeman is kind of a “middle of the spectrum” Republican - not as conservative as some of the candidates, but a bit better than at least one other. He has some name recognition that will help him some.
But I am afraid with such a crowded field, that there will be a lot of blood-letting and the final candidate, whoever that may be, will be short on cash to battle Blanche. After all, she may be behind every announced Republican in the polls, but she will have the deep pockets of the national DemocRAT party funding her reelection campaign... essentially a bottomless budget.
The more repubs in the primary, the more it will cost them-
Speaking of family political names, perhaps we should get Sarah Huckabee (the Huckster’s daughter) to jump in the senate race :)
His wife Janet ran for Secretary of State years ago. She lost by a wide margin.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.