As voters on the east side of the Arkansas River Valley continue to decide who will fill the seat of the late Greg Standridge in the state Senate, at least one candidate has been accused of not showing up for two scheduled debates, with little notice to the event organizers.
The Russellville Chamber of Commerce held a candidate forum between Senate candidates Breanne Davis and Bob Bailey on Thursday night. However, Bailey, a Russellville gun manufacturer, was nowhere to be found.
Davis narrowly defeated Bailey and one other candidate in the primary election on February 13th, and now the two are engaged in a runoff that has hasn’t been always been friendly at times.
Davis, who currently serves area residents on the Russellville School Board, told supporters on Facebook that she was excited to participate in the debate and disappointed in the outcome.
“I was looking forward to publicly debating my opponent tonight and talking about the important issues facing District 16. Unfortunately, for the second time, my opponent decided not to participate at the last second.” Davis noted. “However, I’m thankful to the people of the Russellville Area Chamber of Commerce for giving me the chance to talk about my campaign and why this district can count on me to keep my word and always stand up for them at the state capital.”
Many of the issues in the local race have centered around campaign funding, as Bailey’s camp has questioned the political action committees that have donated to the Davis campaign. While Davis doesn’t deny that her campaign has received money from a number of interests statewide that include lobbying organizations, she shot back to attendees of the forum that she has questions about Bailey’s finances as well.
“My opponent has had ninety percent of the money in his last report come out of one family in Northwest Arkansas.” Davis said. “I wish that he had been here to talk about it. We need to ask ourselves what is going on here.”
The family in question donated to the Bailey campaign through the Conduit For Action political action committee, which is affiliated with the Conduit News Radio Network. The organization boasts the operation of “Arkansas’ premiere radio talk show” that airs on a small network of radio stations across the state. While the network bills itself as a news organization, the program’s host Paul Harrell has been harshly critical of the Davis campaign during the race.
On Election Day, Harrell appeared with the Bailey camp at a voting precinct and received harsh criticism on social media for comparing Davis’ campaign tent to a “homeless camp” in a Facebook Live video. The clip was quickly deleted following a backlash on both Facebook and Twitter.
(PUBLISHERS NOTE: The Conduit News Radio Network also claims to be the number one source for statewide news and politics, but at 2,600 followers has a much smaller social media following than many organizations in the state, including the fan page for the Russellville Wal-Mart location.)
As of Friday morning, Bailey has not made a public statement to shed light on his reasons for missing the forum.
There has been no word on whether or not any future debates will be scheduled. The special election will be held in March.
The Today In Arkansas Blog is a regular opinion and commentary section of InsideFortSmith.Com
