DREW COUNTY ANTES UP $20,000 FOR DICKEY 'RESURRECTION'

Pine Bluff Commercial ^ | June 26, 2002 | Patty Wooten

[a-whole-nother-box-of-pandoras]

DREW COUNTY ANTES UP $20,000 FOR DICKEY 'RESURRECTION'

By Patty Wooten/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF

MONTICELLO -- Republican congressional candidate Jay Dickey of Pine Bluff picked up about $14,000 and commitments for another $6,000 at a campaign fund-raiser Monday night at Monticello.

Charles Fred Dearman, owner of Stephenson-Dearman Funeral Home and one of those who organized the event, called it a resurrection as Dickey seeks to regain Arkansas' 4th District congressional seat from Democrat Mike Ross of Prescott.

"You can take this bunch of people in Drew County, Arkansas, and do just about anything," Dearman said. "It's going to be a hard-fought battle but we can win it. We can resurrect Jay Dickey."

Dickey's Drew County supporters believe the former congressman is key to the completion of the Interstate 530 connector from Pine Bluff to Monticello and federal funding for an intermodal transport facility at Wilmar.

While on the House Appropriations Committee, Dickey secured more than $100 million for the connector and about $800,000 in seed money for the intermodal facility.

A written commitment from House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., to recommend Dickey for his former position on the influential committee and restore his seniority has some locals seeing dollar signs but Dickey has an uphill battle against Ross, who in April reported receiving $975,000 in campaign contributions compared to Dickey's $404,000.

"We can't sell the story of appropriations ... without a lot of money being spent," Dickey told about 50 of his staunchest Drew County supporters. "I told them to expect $30,000 (from Drew County by June 30) -- we've got $13,115. When it gets to be $20,000 out of Drew County, I can sell that to Washington."

Minutes later, Dickey had $20,000.

Dickey, however, said he doesn't expect to spend as much as the $1.8 million he spent during his 2000 re-election bid. He predicts it will cost about $800,000 to regain his seat.

"We're going to do more grass roots campaigning and less media-directed appeals," he said.

The 4th congressional district is one of the poorest in the country, but Dickey says he wants to restore hope in people like a man he met at the Dermott Crawfish Festival.

"When I asked him for his vote and handed him my card he gave it back and said 'you keep your card, nobody cares about us,' " Dickey said.

"I care," he said.

[APBaer]

" $20,000 FOR DICKEY 'RESURRECTION' "

I had no idea Viagra was that expensive.