Dems in House District 4 Race Square Off
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Updated: June 11, 2012
Two Democrats seeking their party's nomination for U.S. House District 4 squared off for the first and last time.
Q. Byrun Hurst and State Sen. Gene Jeffress debated live on KARK Monday afternoon.
Tuesday, voters in District 4 will decide which one will take on Republican candidate Tom Cotton in the November election.
Hurst is a prominent Hot Springs lawyer. Jeffress is a season state lawmaker.
Neither candidate garnered enough votes to pass the 50 percent mark in the May 22 primary.
Both are running against the political climate in Washington which has been defined by sharp partisan gridlock.
And both have not raised anywhere near the campaign dollars Cotton has raised.
"You've got to be able to effectively put it on...I've demonstrated I have the ability to raise funds to get messages across to the media," said Hurst, who raised $231, for the primary.
Although he spent most of that on television spots, Hurst wasn't able to get more than 35 percent of the vote.
Jeffress raised just over $40,000 and garnered 43 percent of the vote.
"We're going to be funded," Jefress said. "We're going to be viable."
The winner of Tuesday's runoff election will have a long way to go to catch up with Cotton who rasied just over $1 million in his primary bid. Cotton currently has $436,000 cash on hand.
