One of the four Democratic candidates for lieutenant governor said Friday in Batesville that he feels good about the substance of his campaign, and that he would like for voters to hear his vision for the state.

“We’ve got 11 (now eight) days to go before the primary election. Things that divert attention away from issues I find really frustrating,” Bill Halter said. “We get this opportunity once every four years to have voters talk about the things that are important to the state and set a future direction, and to have it consumed with things that don’t matter — personal attacks and all this other stuff — I just find it very frustrating.”

Last week a Pulaski County judge rejected a claim made by a voter in Bismarck that Halter didn’t meet the seven-year residency requirement of the state constitution. The voter claimed Halter was not qualified for the position because he had lived most of the last 20 years out of state. The judge ruled that the seven-year residency requirement does not need to be met immediately preceding the election.

Halter is a fourth generation Arkansan, growing up in North Little Rock where he and his wife, Shanti, now live. He earned his education at Stanford University and as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University. He’s also had several years of experience working in the White House.

Halter said he has two main issues he wants to focus on — an excellent education for all of Arkansas’ children rather than focusing on adequacy, and how to bring better and higher-paying jobs to this state.

“You know we have to address two sets of issues simultaneously; one is improving the education system; and the second is to make sure that we’ve got enough economic opportunities for our kids that will keep the best and brightest kids here. Those are the two sets of things that I think are possible.”

He said his experience has been that voters decide based on the vision of the candidate (what the candidate says they are trying to do), the experience of the candidate (what have they done and will they truly be capable of getting this vision enacted), and who’s on their side (who’s fighting for me).

“My view of this is as long as the candidates have the opportunity to lay that out there for voters and it doesn’t get hijacked by sideshows, that democracy works. The voters will make the right choices and we’ll keep this grand experiment going. So that’s what’s important to me, is talking about a vision for the state.

“When I was born we were 49th per capita income. When I went to college we were 49th in per capita income. Today we’re 48th in per capita income. And there’s nothing in the water in Arkansas that says we’re going to be 48th or 49th in the things that matter and there’s nothing in the genetic makeup of Arkansans that says we shall be 49th. But in order to improve the economic and educational environment of the state we’re going to have to be willing to take some risks and to do some things that we haven’t been willing to try perhaps.

“You know, people like direct talk. They like you to tell them in very simple declarative sentences this is what I’d like to do and here’s how we can accomplish it. These are the things we should do:

“We should have universal prekindergarten so that every three-year old and every four-year old in Arkansas, no matter what their economic circumstances, have access to a good prekindergarten program, not just because it’s good for the kids but because it’s good for us. We know that if we put a dollar into a good prekindergarten program that that’ll pay off $5, $7, some studies show as much as $9 to 1. And as a businessman if you give me the opportunity to invest $1 and earn $5, $7, or $9, I’m going to load up. As a state we should be loading up on prekindergarten.

“Similarly we have one of the lowest rates of college graduation, the lowest rates among adult population of people having a college degree of any state in the country. We need to address that. We need to have more financial aid available for our students to go to college as well as other educational and training programs.

“There has never been a long term systematic state, region, or country that had high economical achievement without having high educational achievement. They go hand in hand. And we’re now not just competing with Missouri and Tennessee and Louisiana; we’re competing with China and India and the Philippines and a bunch of other countries where wage rates and salaries are a lot lower, so we have to be able to have a work force that’s more productive, more educated, better trained, so that we can earn these higher salaries.

“It’s the only way home for us as a state. And I’d rather talk about that in the course of a campaign — something that matters — than talk about some silliness.”

Halter said his experience in Washington will help him better serve his home state of Arkansas in several ways. In Washington, D.C., he served in several positions, including as Social Security’s deputy commissioner and chief operating officer, and as senior advisor in President Bill Clinton’s White House Office of Management and Budget.

“Let’s not forget that the lieutenant governor twice in recent history has become governor without an election, so I think it’s important to ask of the candidates: Who has the most executive leadership experience? Who actually runs something large and complicated?”

He was in charge of 65,000 employees and a $50 billion flow serving 50 million Americans when he led the Social Security Administration organization, he said, and he really enjoyed working for the benefit of Arkansas’ seniors. He said he could use that experience in the position of lieutenant governor to be a stronger advocate for older adults in Arkansas. Also, in the White House budget office he was part of the team that balanced the federal budget for the first time in 40 years.

“That makes a difference in the state where you have to have a balanced budget as part of the law,” Halter said. “Also, my business experience is directly relevant to recruiting industry into the state. Of all the seven candidates in the race, Democrats and Republicans, I have far more business experience, plus relationships and contacts that I’d like to bring on behalf of the state of Arkansas in terms of building our economy.”

“I feel very good about the substance of the campaign that we’ve been able to run, and I’m hopeful that we’ll continue to do that over the last days of the primary and then into the general election,” Halter said. “I want this to be about substance, about things that matter.”

On a personal note, Halter said he is also looking forward to the birth of their first child, which is due Nov. 6, the day before the general election.