GI in Iraq plans bid for House seat
Posted on Thursday, February 7, 2008
An Army sergeant on active duty in Iraq has decided to run against U. S. Rep. John Boozman, the would-be Democratic challenger’s wife said this week.
David Pritt, a native Arkansan who plans to move to the 3 rd Congressional District, said via e-mail that he can’t talk about a possible political campaign without violating U. S. Department of Defense regulations. But he switched his voter registration to Washington County this week to the residence of former 3 rd District Democratic nominee Berta Seitz of Fayetteville. Pritt’s family, including his wife, Kim, and two children, live in Clayton, N. Y. He grew up in Warren. He has never lived in the 3 rd District. The U. S. Constitution requires only that a member of Congress be “an inhabitant of that state” when elected.
Pritt is a medic in the U. S. Army Reserve stationed at Camp Stryker in Baghdad. His wife said in a news release that he’d be home in the spring in time to campaign against Boozman.
She said the campaign will focus on education, health care, jobs and veterans issues, paying particular attention to rural health care, tax credits for business competitiveness and “easing the burden” between deployments for National Guard members and Reservists.
Pritt said family members will serve as surrogates for his campaign until he returns from active duty. They include his wife, who plans to file his name as a candidate next month, and his brother, Drew Pritt, who announced that he would run for lieutenant governor in 2006 but never filed as a candidate.
Kim Pritt said Tuesday that the family will move to Fayetteville probably in mid- to late June after the school year ends.
Her husband filled out a voter-registration application while in Iraq and mailed it to Washington County. The clerk’s office received it Wednesday, with Seitz’s address listed as the residence.
Seitz was the Democratic nominee for Congress in 1994, losing to then-U. S. Rep. Tim Hutchinson, a Republican. Seitz said Wednesday that she doesn’t know Pritt, “but I’m hopeful he’ll be a wonderful candidate.”
She said she agreed to accept mail at her house as a temporary campaign headquarters but wasn’t aware that Pritt had used it as a residence for his voter registration.
Tim Humphries, attorney for Secretary of State Charlie Daniels, said a person generally has to reside in the place he registers and swear to that fact on the registration form with a penalty of a $ 10, 000 fine.
Drew Pritt said his brother’s residence is in Arkansas while he’s deployed and that the campaign is awaiting an attorney general’s opinion on the registration issue.
David Pritt said he was working to raise the $ 8, 000 filing fee necessary to run for the Democratic nomination. The filing period is March 3-10.
Boozman has represented the district since 2001. He had $ 173, 454 cash in his campaign account as of Dec. 31. He has no other announced opponent. Democratic Party of Arkansas officials have said they know of no other interested candidate.
Boozman is the state’s only Republican member of Congress. The 3 rd District seat has been held by Republicans since 1967.
Boozman said Wednesday that he doesn’t know Pritt but appreciates his service in Iraq.
“I look forward to discussing the various issues the people of Arkansas face,” he said. Information for this article was contributed by Tracie Dungan of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
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