

Paul Spencer, one of two declared Democratic candidates for the state’s Second Congressional District, announced his fourth quarter fundraising totals today. He has raised more than $135,000 from more than 2,000 individual contributors. The seat is currently held by Republican Rep. French Hill, and is likely Democrats’ best shot to nab a congressional seat in Arkansas in 2018.

Spencer, a teacher who also grows pecans and raises bees near his home in Scott, has been a dogged campaigner for ethics reforms in the state. He is making “Medicare For All” a key campaign plank, as I expect many Democratic candidates across the country to do.


In a press release, the campaign stated:



This brings the campaign’s total contributions to over $150,000 in its first six months without the aid of any special interest or PAC. In addition to its over $125,000 cash-on-hand, the campaign also has over 200 volunteers signed up for its second phase mobilization efforts in all seven counties of the Second District.

My guess is that a significant number of Democratic donors in Pulaski County are waiting to hear whether state Rep. Clarke Tucker is going to enter the race, as has been rumored.


More from the Spencer campaign press release after the jump:

Candidate Spencer provided the following statement: “Our people-powered campaign and its successful fundraising thus far prove that overturning Citizens United, debt-free higher education, and Medicare For All are no longer far-fetched policy goals. Our message of rejecting corporate interests and giving a voice to all working families is clearly the path forward for Democrats if they want to re-establish a political foothold in the South. “People across the Second District and the entire nation know that the stakes are too high to sit back and accept the scraps that the political establishment has seen fit to give to the American people. Now is the time for Arkansans to demand their rightful seat at the table.” Less than 1% of the over 2,000 contributors have donated the maximum amount allowed by the FEC, and the average contribution is below $60. Comprised of many working-class people and first-time political contributors from both Arkansas’s Second District and over 30 other states, this donor network is standing up for a new message of economic and political justice, and they are ready to repeat and amplify the success of this fundraising quarter again and again. Instead of being funneled to cynical and stale political consultants, every dollar raised this quarter, and every dollar raised throughout this campaign, will go directly into expanding an already established seven-county infrastructure. With its final quarter fundraising totals, the campaign has demonstrated that it has what it takes to expand its message to the electorate in communities often forgotten or taken for granted. This includes increasing outreach to rural communities, struggling neighborhoods, and small towns that Democrats had previously assumed to be forever lost to the GOP. If we want to defeat the dystopian agenda of Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell which is embodied by Representative French Hill, we must work together and find our collective voice.