SEBASTIAN COUNTY : Diverse histories lead two to ballot
Posted on Monday, May 5, 2008
FORT SMITH — Family backgrounds led the two Republicans in House District 64 into politics, but for very different reasons.
Brandon Woodrome, 20, is barely old enough to run for the state House, but he says his life experience is an example of why government needs changing. He said he grew up in a family that depended on food stamps, subsidized housing, “and every program touted by liberals as humanitarian.” Woodrome said such programs destroyed his family, taking away his parents’ incentive to the point that the state terminated their parental rights. He said he was a foster child during his teen years.
In the Republican primary on May 20, Woodrome faces Stephanie Malone, a 30-yearold advertising executive. She grew up in the politically active family that produced U. S. Rep. John Boozman of Rogers, among other Republican politicians. Boozman is her uncle and seeks re-election to the U. S. House this year.
Malone’s aunt, Vickey Boozman of Cave Springs, who is the widow of the late legislator and state Health Director Dr. Fay Boozman, is also running for a state House seat.
“It’s just kind of something we feel led to do,” Malone said. “Something my family believes in is public service.” She and Woodrome are competing for the seat now held by Rep. Jim Medley, R-Fort Smith. Democrats will have a candidate, too — Mike Bock of Fort Smith — in the Nov. 4 election.
Woodrome wants Medicaid, Medicare, food stamps and Social Security to end. If those programs didn’t exist, churches and community organizations would take a greater role in caring for society’s needy, as they did before the programs started, he said. Though they’re federal programs, he has made it part of his state legislative campaign.
“The other candidates in this race, they have their political theory because it’s a political theory,” he said. “They haven’t seen the evils I’ve seen. It’s not just right or left to me. It’s right or wrong.” He said Malone has “textbook conservatism,” whereas his brand of conservatism was earned the hard way.
Malone said when she heard Woodrome’s story, she felt bad for him. But she said her relatively comfortable background doesn’t prevent her from understanding the issues that face District 64.
“I may not have come from a family situation where something like that happens, but we all have life experiences that help us grow and make us compassionate to causes,” she said.
She said Woodrome’s ideas about cutting welfare programs and getting rid of Social Security aren’t issues that the state can deal with effectively.
“I’m kind of focusing on the issues that affect Fort Smith and Arkansas in general,” she said.
Malone worked for six years as the communications director for the Fort Smith Chamber of Commerce, which she said tuned her into the needs of the local business community and the city’s economic development priorities.
Asked what she knows about Woodrome, Malone said, “I know he’s young.” State representatives have to be at least 21 when they take office. Woodrome turns 21 on Sept. 9. If he wins, he would take office in January.
He said his youth shouldn’t be a factor because he has accomplished a lot already. He got married at 17 and has a 6-monthold son. He’s one of the managers at a construction company and has worked for the same boss since he was 15.
Malone said she started working as a teenager, too, but the type of experience she gained at the Chamber of Commerce is important.
“I got to listen and be around the business community and the citizens of Fort Smith, and hear what they have to say, what they see for Fort Smith,” she said.
The candidates have disagreed on how the state should address illegal immigration.
Woodrome took a hard-line in an interview, saying local law enforcement officers should be able to ask everyone for proof of citizenship. He later said they should be able to check the legal status of any person charged with a felony, driving while intoxicated or booked into jail.
He said the state should adopt a law similar to one approved in Oklahoma, prohibiting the government from providing driver’s licenses or public benefits without proof of legal status. The state should punish people who hire or harbor illegal aliens, he said.
Malone said she wouldn’t go as far as Woodrome, though she agrees the state should penalize employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens. She said the Legislature should require Arkansas State Police to initiate deportation proceedings for illegal aliens, which would add responsibilities that Gov. Mike Beebe has said the agency should not have to take on.
An existing agreement between state police and the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement is for training in identifying fraudulent documents.
TAXES Woodrome said he was disappointed that Beebe didn’t propose reductions in government spending while reducing the grocery tax in 2007. Woodrome said income taxes should be cut, but he didn’t offer specifics on budget reductions. Malone said she’d support getting rid of the remaining 3 percent of state sales tax on groceries. If cuts are needed because of a loss in revenue, she didn’t have specific suggestions other than focusing on areas of the budget outside education, prisons and health care. PRIORITIES Malone said her top priority would be economic development. Woodrome said sponsoring immigration legislation, an issue he said “has been avoided” at the state level, would be his top priority.
ETHICS RULES Woodrome said rules pertaining to how lawmakers interact with lobbyists should be reformed but didn’t say how. Malone said the current ethics laws are adequate. EMINENT DOMAIN Woodrome said he’d support a bill that defined what the state considers “public use” of property taken by the government through eminent domain, though he said for the most part state law has protected private owners. Malone said the state should do more to prevent “onerous regulation by overzealous planning commissions and environmental extremists.” She didn’t offer specifics. OTHER ISSUES Both oppose the establishment of a state lottery and favor the proposed initiated act that would ban unmarried, cohabiting couples from adopting or serving as foster parents. House District 64 REPUBLICAN NOMINATION Stephanie Malone Age: 30 Family: Single Occupation: Director of media planning, E-magination marketing communications firm Education: Bachelor’s degree, University of Arkansas Previous political experience: None Military experience: None What should be the state’s role in enforcing immigration law ? The state police should be allowed to... partner with the federal Department of Homeland Security. The governor has not been willing to allow for the arrest and initiation of the deportation process using state resources. The Legislature should require that now. Additionally, businesses that knowingly hire illegal aliens should be subject to financial penalties. Are the state’s eminent domain laws sufficient to protect property owners ? No. We must do more to prevent onerous regulation by overzealous planning commissions and environmental extremists. What taxes would you reduce and how would you propose to make up the shortfall in the budget ? I support elimination of the sales tax on food. I support elimination of the income tax for incomes below $ 75, 000 and reducing it for the incomes above $ 75, 000.... If cuts were needed, I would focus on the pieces of the budget other than education, prisons and health care. Brandon Woodrome Age: 20 Family: Wife, Heather; one child Occupation: Special operations manager, Wilson Brothers Construction Education: Northside High School Previous political experience: None Military experience: None What should be the state’s role in enforcing immigration law ? Prohibit state entities from issuing license and... identification without proof of legal status; prohibit state entities from providing benefits without proof of legal status; penalizing any persons or entities who knowingly enter into a contract with, hire or harbor an illegal immigrant; provide local law enforcement the authority to check legal status when a person is charged with any felony, driving while under the influence or confined. Are the state’s eminent domain laws sufficient to protect property owners ? For the most part, private property owners have been protected. I would support a bill that defined “public use” for eminent domain takings. What taxes would you reduce and how would you propose to make up the shortfall in the budget ? Income taxes should be cut.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
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