May 6, 1:10 PM EDT
Ark. candidates expecting babies instead of kissing them
By ANDREW DeMILLO
Associated Press Writer
LITTLE ROCK (AP) -- Apparently these politicians don't have enough babies to kiss.
This year is turning out to be a fertile one for several candidates for office in Arkansas, with the wives of at least four political hopefuls expecting and the wife of one candidate for lieutenant governor celebrating the birth of his ninth child.
Two of the candidates, Bill Halter and Jay Martin, said their wives are expecting on the same date, Nov. 6 - the day before this year's general election. Halter, a former Clinton administration official, and Martin, a state representative from North Little Rock, are both Democrats running for lieutenant governor.
Martin's wife, Dawn, is expecting twins. The couple already have a 2-year-old girl, Hallie.
Martin said he's trying to focus on winning a heated primary battle instead of the fact that his wife's due date comes on the eve of the election. Four Democrats and three Republicans are running for lieutenant governor in the May 23 primary.
"I'm not really good at timing, am I?" Martin said. "The Lord certainly does have a sense of humor."
Halter - who married his wife, Shanti, in January - said he knew they were expecting when Martin announced his wife's pregnancy last month. Halter waited until a debate of the Democratic candidates to share the news that his wife was due on Nov. 6 as well.
"I said to Jay, 'Jay, I knew what you were doing on Valentine's Day,' and he turned beet red," Halter said.
In the 2nd Congressional District, which includes Little Rock, there's a chance two opponents could bump into each other in the maternity ward.
U.S. Rep. Vic Snyder's wife Betsy Singleton, a United Methodist minister, is pregnant and expecting in June. Andy Mayberry, one of two Republicans seeking the GOP nomination against Snyder, a Democrat, said his wife is also expecting in June.
Mayberry said he and his wife keep joking they may have to hold the May 23 primary watch party at the hospital.
"I'm just praying she waits until after May to come into the world," Julie Mayberry said.
The candidates who are expecting said they don't yet know how their wives' pregnancies will affect their campaigning.
Snyder said he doesn't know if the boy he and his wife are expecting will make any appearances on the stump.
"He can't carry a yard sign yet," Snyder said.
Martin said his wife has been unable to attend some events because of morning sickness.
State Sen. Jim Holt of Springdale, whose wife gave birth to their ninth child last month, said he sees some political angle to the mini-baby boom among the political candidates. Holt is one of three Republicans seeking his party's nomination for lieutenant governor.
"I think it's safe to say that all of us are doing everything we can to help cure the Social Security problem," Holt said. "We're trying on both sides to build the voting base, I guess."
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