Oct 11, 2:58 PM EDT

Ark. Lt. Gov. hopeful criticized over ads

By ANDREW DeMILLO
Associated Press Writer

LITTLE ROCK (AP) -- Republican lieutenant governor nominee Jim Holt said Wednesday he regretted running radio ads that inaccurately said Democratic rival Bill Halter spent 25 years in California.

Holt said he pulled the ads after they ran for two days in two cities, but said he still thinks it's relevant to criticize the amount of time Halter has spent out of state.

Halter lived in California for four years while attending college and worked in Washington during the Clinton administration. A Halter spokesman said the Holt ads were "desperate" and that an apology is due.

"This is the sort of thing a professional politician with no plans whatsoever resorts to," Halter spokesman Bud Jackson said. "These are clear examples of outright lies he's put out there."
 
Holt said Wednesday he had the advertisements pulled off the radio when he realized they were inaccurate, but said the larger issue is still relevant.

"The issue is not did he live in California. The issue is, did he live in Arkansas for the past 27 years, and he didn't," said Holt, a state senator from Springdale. "That's the main point, and we're going to continue to bring that out."

In May, the state Supreme Court ruled that Halter was eligible to run for lieutenant governor, rejecting an argument that Halter was ineligible because he had spent much of the last two decades out of Arkansas. Justices upheld a Pulaski County judge's decision that Halter was qualified for the post because he lived in Arkansas as child and teenager, because he had spent enough time in Arkansas since graduating from college in 1979 and because he was away during the 1990s working in the Clinton administration.

Halter grew up in Arkansas and has said he has always considered himself an Arkansan even when working out of state.

The ads ran on radio stations in southern Arkansas.

Halter's campaign also criticized a Holt ad for referring to Halter supporting "forced preschool," and said Halter's pre-kindergarten proposal is voluntary. Holt said he didn't believe the ad was inaccurate because he viewed the term "universal pre-kindergarten" as a mandatory program.

"I think everone took it that way when he said it's univeral," Holt said.

Also Wednesday, Holt said he had received support from Democratic voters in his bid for the state's No. 2 office. A Democratic justice of the peace from Independence County, a Searcy woman and the head of the Arkansas Professional Firefighters Union announced their support for Holt at the news conference.

Ed Jaros, the head of the firefighters union, identified himself as an independent voter but said the group has traditionally supported Democrats in the past.

Halter's campaign released a list of three dozen Democratic legislators endorsing Halter's candidacy, and Holt said no Democratic lawmakers are openly supporting his candidacy.

"Behind the scenes, not publicly," Holt said.