“Clarke Tucker launched his campaign for Congress after beating cancer and standing up for Arkansans’ ability to get their health care through Arkansas Works. Clarke won his primary by running a strong, grassroots campaign rooted in those values and he is well positioned to be highly competitive in the general election by striking a clear contrast between his record of standing up for affordable health care, and Congressman Hill’s record of standing for Washington’s special interests.” –DCCC Chairman Ben Ray Luján
To: Interested Parties
From: Cole Leiter, DCCC Regional Press Secretary
Date: May 22nd, 2018
RE: The Case Against Rep. French Hill
Congressman Hill’s “yes” vote to pass Washington Republicans’ bill to dismantle our current healthcare system provides a near-perfect illustration of how Congressman Hill has chosen Washington politics over the best interests of working Arkansans. That vote would have increased health care premiums for millions, and jeopardized health care access for the more than 300,000 Arkansans who get their coverage through Arkansas Works. Unfortunately for families in Arkansas, that isn’t the only time where Congressman Hill stood with his party in Washington and their special interests backers, abandoning the best interests of working families.
The fact that French Hill doubled down on that vote to dismantle our health care system in his party’s Washington driven tax bill, which will raise health care premiums for millions shows that he’s not just going to side with Washington occasionally, he’s going to side with Washington consistently.
Meanwhile, Clarke Tucker has served his community in Arkansas with distinction. Tucker worked across the aisle to renew the Arkansas Works Medicaid Expansion program, guarantee paid family leave for state employees, and increase investment in pre-K. That’s the kind of independent leadership Arkansans deserves and it’s the kind of bipartisan record that Congressman Hill will never be able to match after voting 95% of the time in lockstep with his party’s leadership in Washington.
French Hill is in for the fight of his career.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
HEADLINE: “Republican who voted to repeal Obamacare draws challenge from cancer survivor.” [Think Progress, 2/5/2018]
“When Gov. Asa Hutchinson appealed to the small House Democratic Caucus to support him on the scheme, pointing out that it was the only way to get Medicaid expansion done, Tucker said he might be able to come to agreement. But he asked if the governor would let him try to improve the special language to be vetoed to better guard against a lawsuit that might jeopardize Medicaid expansion. Hutchinson said sure. Tucker’s changes were incorporated into the measure. When the governor announced victory, he thanked Tucker for his sound legal help.” [Arkansas Democrat Gazette, 2/6/2018]
“Arkansas state Rep. Clarke Tucker gives Democrats a candidate who could make inroads in the 2nd District, home to Little Rock. Tucker announced his bid in early February, and despite the late start managed to beat GOP Rep. French Hill in fundraising by about $130,000 in the first quarter…” [CNN, 4/30/2018]
“In short, [Clarke] comes across as a moderate — and exactly the kind of candidate who leading Democrats believe the party should field in Republican-leaning districts to bolster the majority they hope to win in the House in November.” [New York Times, 5/13/2018]
KUAR Headline: “U.S. Rep. French Hill’s Constituents Say ‘No’ To Repeal and Replace At Protest.” [KUAR, 5/8/17]
Rep. French Hill: For Washington’s Agenda, not Arkansans’ Best Interest
To Heck With Arkansans’ Health care
When Congressman Hill voted for his party’s health care repeal bill, he gave his rubberstamp of approval to Washington Republican recklessness on health care that will cause Americans’ health care premiums to skyrocket. In Arkansas, that impact would have been even more acute. Arkansas is one of only two states in the South to expand Medicaid, yet Hill’s vote would have cost Medicaid $880 billion over 10 years, effectively crippling Arkansas Works, which provides health care to more than 300,000 Arkansans. In addition to ending a program that is popular across partisan lines, Hill’s support for health care repeal would have stripped away protections for the 307,200 people with pre-existing conditions living in Arkansas’s 2nd District alone, imposed an age tax on older Arkansans, and directly damaged rural communities’ ability to access care.
Arkansans have to worry whether Congressman Hill will sell out their health care to Washington, but if they elect Clarke Tucker, they will never wonder where he stands. Clarke announced his campaign for Congress after beating bladder cancer, a fight that means Clarke will live the rest of his life with a pre-existing condition- and French Hill thinks insurers should be able to charge him more because of it. On top of Clarke’s personal experience battling cancer, Clarke was an influential voice in renewing Arkansas’ Medicaid expansion program. Clarke’s real world experience, and his record of standing up for affordable health care, strike a formidable contrast to Congressman Hill’s record of putting Washington politics ahead of Arkansans’ best interests.
Busting the Budget and Balancing it on Seniors’ Backs
Congressman French Hill claims he supports a balanced budget, but just months ago he voted in Washington for a massive handout to big corporations that blew a $1.9 trillion hole in the deficit. If that weren’t bad enough, Congressman Hill and his leadership’s scheme to patch that hole does nothing to rein in big government giveaways and instead opened the door to cuts to Medicare and Social Security. On top of that, while seniors pay more in prescription drug costs every year, Hill’s tax handout has been lauded as a “major victory” for pharmaceutical companies.
But that’s not how Arkansas gets things done. While Congressman Hill’s corporate handouts exploded the deficit in Washington, Clarke Tucker helped pass a bipartisan, middle-class tax cut in Arkansas, while maintaining a balanced budget, and protecting Arkansans’ access to health care.
Wall Street and Washington, not Main Street
Having taken more than $1.6 million from the finance and insurance industries, Congressman Hill is deep in the pocket of Washington’s biggest special interests. That investment in Hill has been worth the money for those special interests and donors. Hill has voted multiple times to weaken protections for consumers, including siding with companies like Equifax who compromised consumers’ privacy, but have tried to dodge responsibility, and voted to nullify a rule to ensure financial institutions provide advice in the best interest of consumers. After taking thousands from payday lenders, Hill voted to weaken regulations on payday lenders– even though payday lenders routinely target service members and their families.
THE PATH TO VICTORY
Despite no notable top-of-ticket or statewide Democratic primary races in Arkansas this cycle, the Second District’s Democratic Congressional candidates are turning out an impressive number of voters.
While many assume Congressman Hill has been an inoffensive incumbent, recent public polling by PPP showed that Arkansans rate French Hill’s job performance evenly, 37% approve while 38% disapprove. This is a turn for the worse after Hill won the seat by more than 20 points in 2016. In their first public head-to-head, Clarke Tucker only trails Hill by 5 points, a notably tight margin given recent Democratic performance in the district.
The path to victory in Arkansas’s Second district flows through vote-dense Pulaski County, which contains the city of Little Rock and over half of total currently registered voters. There are factors from the ground that will drive turnout in Little Rock, including a non-partisan Mayoral race in Little Rock with multiple strong Democrats and no candidate to drive Republicans votes to the polls.
Demographically, Arkansas’ 2nd district is almost one-fifth African American (19.0%) by current registration. French Hill’s diving job favorability, his support for an unpopular agenda that is uniquely bad for Arkansans and Tucker’s impressive profile puts AR-02 firmly in play.