In Arkansas Lt. Governor's Race, GOP Contender Questions Opponent's Values
by Jim Brown
September 14, 2006
(AgapePress) - - The Republican candidate for the second-highest executive office in Arkansas says his Democratic opponent is hedging on the issues of same-sex "marriage" and homosexual adoption.
Democratic candidate for Arkansas lieutenant governor Bill Halter and State Party Chair Jason Willett have both said they oppose homosexual marriage and favor a ban against homosexual adoptions. But less than three weeks ago, the Arkansas Democratic Party eliminated language from its platform that affirmed marriage is between one man and one woman.
Now, Halter's opponent, State Senator Jim Holt, is asking the former Clinton administration official whether he supports the revised platform and the national Democratic Party's five-point plan to fight ballot measures banning homosexual marriage. Holt feels his political rival's position on these two issues may not be in synch with the will of the people of Arkansas.
"You know, Mr. Halter has lived in California and other parts of the United States for the last 25 years, and he came back about a year ago," Holt points out. "And we asked him about marriage being between a man and a woman because we had on good inside information that he was for homosexual marriage."
Halter responded by saying that the people of Arkansas had voted correctly, Holt says. "Of course, that marriage amendment passed by over 75 percent," he adds, "and you'll notice, he didn't ever say what he believed."
Nor did Halter ever comment on whether the Arkansas Democratic Party was wrong to remove the traditional marriage plank from its platform, the Republican candidate notes. He says Halter "has never answered either one of these questions, and when we try to talk about it, the press will not report it."
Holt says the media have reported on the homosexual adoption issue but have left the Democrats alone about dropping their previous affirmation of traditional marriage from the party platform. "As far as asking if Mr. Halter or the Democrat chairman was actually trying to tell their party that they needed to keep it in," the state senator says, "when asked the question they say it's not really an issue this election."
But Holt strongly disagrees on that point. "Gay adoption and gay foster parents is an issue this election," he asserts. The Republican contender for the Arkansas lieutenant governor's seat believes the Democrats know it is an issue, and he says it is significant that "they didn't put that in their platform, while the Republican Party of Arkansas did."
Halter's latest equivocations on the issue of homosexual marriage do not mark the first time the Democrat politician's commitment to traditional family values has been called into question. During the Democratic primary, opponent Tim Woolridge accused Halter of profiting from pornography and online gambling because he sits on the board of a company that has done business with pornographic websites.
Although Halter emerged victorious in the Democratic Primary election, his Republican opponent in the Arkansas lieutenant governor's race intends to hold the Democratic candidate's feet to the fire on the issues of same-sex marriage and homosexual adoption. Halter and Holt will debate each other Monday at the Bill Clinton School of Public Service in Little Rock.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
