Ark. AG Announces Candidacy for Governor

[maddezmom]

Tuesday June 14, 2005 4:31 PM


By JAMES JEFFERSON

Associated Press Writer

SEARCY, Ark. (AP) - Arkansas Attorney General Mike Beebe formally announced his candidacy for governor Tuesday, promising to make ``the best in Arkansas available to everyone.''

The announcement had long been considered a given for the Democrat, a former state Senate leader who for many of his 20 years in the Legislature was considered among the most powerful lawmakers in the state.

``I believe in an Arkansas that provides health care for its children, that demands the highest education standards from both its pupils and its teachers, that competes for jobs of the 21st century not only with its neighbors but with the nation and the world,'' Beebe told a crowd of more than 300 people who filled the courthouse square in his hometown.

Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee cannot seek a third four-year term next year because of term limits.

``This is not a dream. This is what our state can become,'' he said. ``This is not a political promise, it is a commitment to make the best in Arkansas available to everyone.''

~snip~
more; http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-5073669,00.html

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Think he stands a good chance at beating the Repub, even if

it turns out to be Hutchinson.

[Doctor_J]

2. AR used to be known as a pretty progrssive state,

especially among Dixie entries. Would be nice place to make some electoral progress with a liberal Southerner/centrist Dem.