Editorial: For Senator Ron Caldwell In District 10

In today’s political world, quality public servants whose top concern is the interest of their constituents instead of the powerful are hard to find.  Senator Ronald Caldwell is one of a shrinking number in public office that truly cares about his constituents and doing what does the greatest good for the greatest number and it is with pleasure that we endorse him in the Republican Primary for Senate District 10 coming up on March 3.

When you call Senator Caldwell, he calls you back.  When you need help, he tries to figure out how to solve your problem and direct you down the right path.  When it comes to constituent service, Senator Caldwell is second to none.  That’s hard to come by in today’s modern political world.  

When it comes to legislative accomplishments, Senator Caldwell’s record of achievement would get an A if it were a course of study.  Thanks in large part to his leadership, personal state income tax rates are down 44%, corporate income tax rates are down 33%, the state sales tax on groceries is gone, homestead property tax credits are up, and businesses have affordable rates for unemployment insurance.  With that record, you would think he wouldn’t have a primary opponent.  That record sounds like a laundry list of what has historically been conservative priorities.

However, he does.  A businessman from Pine Bluff who recently moved to Stuttgart who has deep connections to a McDonald’s magnate who has never held office and appears to be as reliable as ice cream machines at the Golden Arches.  The man has no experience and only recently moved to the district.  The only reason he appears to be running is the Governor is upset that Senator Caldwell had the temerity to question her plan for a 3000-bed prison and its potential to become a billion dollar boondoggle at a western Arkansas site that her administration bought before seeing if it would have a sufficient water source.  In short, Senator Caldwell looked out for the best interests of the whole state and that earned the ire of the Executive Branch. 

Some nasty PAC mailers have been sent about Senator Caldwell.  Those aren’t accurate either and represent the worst tactics of our modern politics.  Senator Caldwell voted to bar the Chinese from owning agricultural land.  These mailers talking about missed votes? They are shameful because Senator Caldwell was in Wynne that Tuesday helping his hometown recover from a tornado that hit the previous Friday.  He was where he needed to be.  Helping his constituents and working with state agencies on recovery.

Senator Caldwell also has a chance of becoming the President Pro Tempore of the Senate if he wins this election.  At a time when the political influence of this state is gravitating away from eastern Arkansas and the Delta, we cannot afford to give away that kind of influence in the General Assembly in exchange for a carpetbagger who will sell us down the river any time the Executive Branch tells him to step and fetch.

So we ask each of you to vote for Senator Caldwell and ask your friends and acquaintances to do the same.  He is a good man who gets results and gets them the right way.