EDGE ON IQ: We give it to Bruce Westerman against Mark Darr.

  • EDGE ON IQ: We give it to Bruce Westerman against Mark Darr.

John Lyon at Stephens Media rounds up the mostly non-existent prospects for challenges to incumbent Republicans in the U.S. House delegation from Arkansas.

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So far, only one Democrat has emerged to seek an Arkansas congressional seat Janis Percefull of Hot Springs, a political newcomer, for the 4th District.

The Democratic Party continues to insist that candidates will emerge, surely for Tim Griffin in the 2nd, Rick Crawford in the 1st and, in the 4th, for Tom Cotton, or whoever runs when he mounts the expected Club for Growth’s assault on Sen. Mark Pryor in the U.S. Senate battle.

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Some Conway candidates — former Sen. Linda Tyler and Mayor Tab Townsell — are bright prospects in the 2nd. Is Rep. Bobby Pierce of Sheridan still a possibility in the 4th if the seat is open? I’ve heard that. Rep. Steve Womack is presumed unassailable in the Yellow Dog Republican 3rd.

For now, Democrats must content themselves with a little schadenfreude. For example, Rick Crawford may get primary challengers for not being sufficiently steeped in tea baggery.

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And in the 4th, more and more it looks like a Cotton departure will open the door to a titanic primary battle between Lt. Gov. Mark Darr and Rep. Bruce Westerman. If IQ (and not common sense) is the trump card, Westerman walks to the nomination. But Darr is a heckuva karaoke singer. However, he’s toting steamer trunks full of baggage worthy of a first-class passenger on the Titanic, to extend the metaphor. (See my column this week for more on Mark Darr.) But this will be a contest of ideas, right?

The encouraging bottom line, to take a page from Oaklawn’s marketing book, on a Darr-Westerman race:

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“Somebody’s gotta lose.”