State Senate leader mulls primary run against Lincoln

LITTLE ROCK — State Senate President Pro Tem Bob Johnson, D-Bigleow, said Friday he is considering challenging U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln in the 2010 Democratic primary.

“I’m at a very early stage right now of trying to determine whether or not it’s right,” Johnson told the Arkansas News Bureau.

Johnson, 45, said others have urged him to run.

“I’ve been humbled.” he said. “My phone has been rattling constantly (with calls from) people who serve in the Legislature, people who used to serve with me in the Legislature, who are saying, let’s go, now is the time, we need to change.”

Johnson said he had no personal conflict with Lincoln and was not yet ready to talk policy, but he said, “We’ve got too much Washington being brought back to Arkansas and not enough Arkansas in Washington.”

Calling himself a “Harry Truman Democrat,” Johnson said that if elected he would not be a “functionary” of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“This is really extraordinarily unique in my lifetime to see the kind of unrest that we’re seeing in this country about what’s going on in Washington, and I happen to concur with that,” he said.

http://arkansasnews.com/2009/08/21/state-senate-leader-considering-run-against-lincoln/