Dr. Bill Smith, Editor: State Representative Linda Collins-Smith excited those that attended her announced intentions to seek State Senate District 19 on the Republican ticket at Lyon College in Batesville, Arkansas on November 15, 2011.
Rep. Collins-Smith is in her first term representing Sharp and Randolph counties in the State House. Senate District 19 was created by redistricting and includes all of Independence, Izard, Sharp, and part of Fulton and most of Randolph counties.
"Right now we have an economy that's losing jobs because small businesses are over taxed and over regulated by an over bearing government. In order to get this economy going again we have to allow our small businesses to do what they do best, create jobs. As your next State Senator, I'll work hard to create an environment where small businesses feel confident they can create jobs." Collins-Smith said.
She is already seen as rising voice for conservatism in the Republican Party by those who have met and heard her share her ideals and beliefs. But "Linda" did not start her political walk in Arkansas as a Republican. Like many Arkansas conservatives, she grew up as a democrat. However, she was raised with conservative values and has not wavered on these values.
However, after being elected as a State Representative in 2010, Linda quickly discovered that her conservative values were not shared by the majority of her fellow elected Democrats. Instead of abandoning her values, she switched to the political brand that did espouse her conservative values. After recently joining the Republican Party, Collins-Smith said "I ran last time promising to protect our rural, north Arkansas conservative values. I had been a democrat my entire life. When I got to Little Rock, I voted for less taxes and less government, consistent with my rural, north Arkansas values. I found myself ostracized from the party of Barack Obama. I made the decision to switch to the Republican party because they are more aligned with my conservative values. There is no room in Obama's Democrat party for conservatives."
Collins-Smith has an established record of working for lower taxes, less regulations, less spending, and more efficient government. She is pro life, pro traditional marriage, and has worked hard to protect our agricultural community from liberals that don't understand our rural values.
Linda is 49 years old. She is married to Phil Smith and has two children and two grandchildren. She attends Sutton Free Will Baptist church. Linda is self employed, President of the Arkansas Lodging Association, winner of national sales awards, member of state and local chambers of commerce, rotary board member, and active in regional economic development.
I have have enjoyed meeting and listening to Linda's commitment to conservative values. If elected to the Arkansas Senate District 19 seat, she and others like Sen. Missy Irwin will be pillars in the conservative movement to protect the traditional conservative values of Arkansans.
Both reflect the desire for restoration of America and Arkansas through principled the leadership values. Representative (and hopefully future Senator) Linda Collins-Smith reminds me of the former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and an elected Sen. Collins-Smith will promote a positive agenda of reform for Arkansas.
Below is the full text of Linda Collins-Smith announcement of her candidacy for the Arkansas State Senate.
Lyon College, Batesville, Arkansas - Rep. Linda Collins-Smith: Thank you so much for your warm welcome. I appreciate your presence, and I am humbled that you have chosen to share this occasion with me. Many of you have come considerable distances to be here, and I am truly honored by that.
I want to say a word about this beautiful place where we have met today. Lyon College is one of Arkansas’ greatest treasures. Its worth to this community and the entire state is immeasurable. I learned a lot about Lyon College a few years ago when my step-daughter spent her college years here. She loved it here. And she found, as have thousands of other young Arkansans over the years, that a degree from Lyon opens doors.Businesses and graduate schools all across America understand and value the quality of an education earned at Lyon College.
They do it right here, and I suspect that Arkansas’ entire education system could benefit from duplicating as much as possible the model of Lyon College.
President Weatherman, I am so grateful to you and the Lyon community for the use of these wonderful facilities today. Special thanks to the College Republicans. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you for hosting this event.
I have known many of you for a long time. Others I have met only recently. But I treasure my friendships, and I look forward to knowing each of you even better than I do today, and working side-by-side with you to bring our state government back to the values of the good and decent people of Arkansas.
I am here today to announce that I will be a candidate in the 2012 election to be your State Senator.
I do not expect your support simply because I tell you I want to be your State Senator. I understand that your friendship, your vote, your financial support, and your hard work on my behalf, all must be earned.
That is why I am here today. I want you to know me, know who I am, know what I stand for, and know that my commitment to good government doesn’t consist of empty words. I want you to know that you will have a Senator who will not change – one who will do exactly what she says she will do on your behalf.
You all know that I currently am serving the people of Sharp and Randolph Counties as their State Representative. When I was campaigning for that office, I made a solemn pledge to them that I would be a different kind of legislator – one who stands firmly for the values of real Arkansans, and who would be a consistent voice for those values, even in the face of party politics and pressure.
I made that pledge because like most of you, I was not a career politician. Politics was not my dream; it was not something I aspired to. But, night after night I sat in front of the television news, frustrated and fuming to my family: “Why do they say one thing to get elected and then do the opposite when the get to Little Rock or Washington? Why don’t they stand up for our values? Why do they ignore the people who elected them?”
I came to realize that for reasons I simply couldn’t grasp, many of our elected officials were putting party politics over principle and pandering to special interests over the common good to stay in power.
I am a common woman. I come from a family of common people, where I was taught that it is a virtue to work hard; it is a virtue to strive to be self-sufficient; it is a virtue to love God, to love family and to value friendships.
I was taught that laziness is shameful, and that expecting others to do for me what I can do for myself is dishonorable.
So I decided to quit complaining and get off the sidelines. I decided to offer myself as a legislator who would listen to the people, who would truly represent their interests, and who would never forget who elected me.
I tell people over and over that I am a conservative. People disagree about what that means, and accurate definitions of conservatism are not easy to write. But let me tell you what I mean when I say I’m a conservative.
I mean I believe in the solid principles of limited government, financial responsibility and the creation of jobs for Arkansas’ hard-working families.
I mean that I trust the people of Arkansas and America to solve the basic problems of society more than I trust the government.
I mean I believe that government policies should reflect the common will of the people more than the desires of special interests.
I mean that I believe government’s proper role in creating jobs is to insure an atmosphere that encourages business development and expansion, rather than viewing business as a revenue source for the government.
I mean that the government should manage limited finances wisely and live within its means.
I mean that the government must value and protect the life of every citizen, from the womb to the grave.
I mean that the government should not seek to regulate the everyday lives and personal choices of its citizens.
I’ve heard it said recently that in Arkansas it really doesn’t matter whether you have a D or an R beside your name. That statement simply is not true. I know because I have lived it.
Most of you are aware that about three months ago I left the Democrat Party and embraced the Republican banner. Like most Arkansans, I was raised a Democrat. My father – who is here with me today – was a Democrat, as was his father before him. I knew that the national Democrat Party had completely lost touch with the values of honest, hardworking Arkansas people. But I nevertheless believed the party in Arkansas still had enough true conservatives that it could be brought back to its senses.
I was wrong. When I got to Little Rock I found that the politics of Washington and of the national Democrat Party have become entrenched in Arkansas, and that there is no room for real conservatives in the state party. Those who call themselves conservative Democrats are only tolerated at best. Those who steadfastly act on true conservative principles are unwelcome, outcast, and punished.
I have found that in thought and practice the Democrat party no longer is the party of the working man and the common people. Rather, it has become the party of Big Government, Big Brother, and Big Spending. The state party has bought into the uncontrolled excesses of the national party; it marches lock-step with the national party, and it tolerates no independent thinking within the ranks.
But I do think independently. I will not be obligated to official party lines that do not reflect the values of the people I represent. I believe my conservative values and principles are consistent with those of the great majority of the citizens of Independence, Izard, Fulton, Sharp and Randolph counties.
And so, I will consider it my solemn duty to listen to you, the people of District 19, and cast my votes on your behalf consistent with your interests and your direction. My first duty is to the people who elect me, rather than to a political party or professional politicians.
Now, I live in Randolph County. I understand the feeling that some have that they want their State Senator to live in their county because surely she will do more for the county where she lives. That is the “business as usual” approach to government that I totally reject and I want to change.
I live in Randolph County; I grew up in Sharp and Lawrence Counties; I was educated in Sharp County; I shopped in Independence County; I fished and vacationed Izard and Fulton counties. I am a citizen of District 19. I have spent years developing regional relationships. I believe in regional cooperation. What is good for Batesville is good for Ash Flat, and what is good for Melbourne is good for Mammoth Spring.
Talk to people you know in Sharp County. I am confident they will tell you that I worked every bit as long and hard for them as their State Representative as I did for Randolph County.
I am proud to be associated with the Republican Party of Arkansas. I have found it to be full of people who do not accept that government has to be “business as usual”, who do not believe that we have to “go along to get along”, and who do not consider the “good old boy” system to be good government.
I have found it is the Republican Party that has become the party of the working people of Arkansas; it is the Republican Party that strives to live by the ideal expressed in our state motto, “The People Rule”; it is the Republican Party that most closely holds to the principles that I and most other Arkansans believe in.
Let me be clear. I am the same today as I was when the people of Sharp and Randolph counties elected me to represent them. Little Rock did not change me, party politics did not change me, and ideological intimidation did not change me.
I have not changed because I have an anchor. I know what I believe to be right, and I believe I understand the values of the people of District 19. As your Senator, I will represent all the people and communities of the district with the same fervor and commitment that I have serve my House district.
I know without a doubt that the people of Senate District 19 want elected officials who will stand for what is right, who will say what they mean, and who will do what they say they will do. That is the kind of State Senator I want, and it is the kind of State Senator I intend to be.
I am wearing a pin today that says Together We Can Make A Difference. I want to bring our great country back to what it was and we can do that one state at a time.
This is a race we can, and will, win. I can’t win it, but we can, and we will do it -- with your help, with your door-to-door work, with your financial support, and most of all, with your prayers.
Thank you. God Bless.
Tags Arkansas, State Representative, Linda Collins-Smith, campaign announcement, candidate, 2012, State Senate, district 19, Independence, Izard, Sharp, Fulton, Randolph, counties.
