Gov. Mike Beebe will be in Washington Monday and Tuesday of next week to attend inaugural events for President-elect Barack Obama, a spokesman for Beebe said today.

“He wants to show support for the president-elect, who of course has supported him in the past,” Matt DeCample said.

Obama appeared at a rally in Little Rock for Beebe and other Democrats in October 2006, while Beebe was campaigning for governor. Beebe endorsed Hillary Clinton in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination but endorsed Obama when he became the party’s nominee.

DeCample said Beebe also wants to attend because of the historic nature of the event and its importance for the Democratic Party.

“It’s a great day for America,” DeCample said.

Zac Wright, the governor’s director of communications, was wandering the state Capitol today, and he took time to talk about his successful work in Missouri.

The Tennessee native took some time off from his job in Gov. Mike Beebe’s office earlier this year to go to work in the Show Me State as spokesman for Democrat Jay Nixon’s campaign for governor. Nixon, longtime Missouri attorney general, defeated Republican Kenny Hulshof for the seat on Nov. 4.

Before helping Nixon, Wright spent several months in South Carolina helping Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign last year and early this year. A former spokesman for the Tennessee Democratic Party, he came to Arkansas to serve as spokesman for Beebe’s gubernatorial campaign in 2006.

The Pulaski County Election Commission just finished their recount for the House District 38 race, and Democrat John Edwards has been declared the winner over Republican Kelly Eichler. The difference was 77 votes. Eichler asked for the recount after unofficial results on Election Day had her trailing by 74 votes.

Election Commission Chairman Kent Walker said it took about seven hours to count the ballots, which included provisional ballots and military overseas ballots not originally counted.

When the Legislature goes into session in January, the House will include 71 Democrats, 28 Republicans and one Green Party member.

Barack Obama could have won Arkansas if he had campaigned here, according to U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark.

“I think if Obama had come here and worked here and allocated some resources to Arkansas, we could have been like North Carolina or Missouri or some of these other states who were very close, and we could have won the thing. … They made the right decision nationally, but I do wish the Obama campaign had spent some more time here,” Pryor told reporters.

As of today, provisional ballots are still being counted in Missouri and no winner has been declared.

Pryor, who campaigned in the state on Obama’s behalf, said Arkansas’ election results — 58.6 percent for McCain, 39 percent for Obama — also may have been affected by former first lady Hillary Clinton’s defeat in the national Democratic primary and “probably some other factors.”

Obama’s most recent appearance in Arkansas was in October 2006 at a rally for Mike Beebe and other Democratic candidates.

Two groups opposed to a state-run lottery want legislators to ignore the lottery-authorizing amendment voters approved on Election Day.

United Methodists Against Gambling announced today it will ask legislators to forego writing rules for creating and operating a state lottery next year. Instead, the group wants lawmakers to refer to the 2010 general election a proposed constitutional amendment to restrict the definition of state lotteries to exclude all games of chance except the sale of lottery tickets.

Jerry Cox of the Family Council says his group supports the idea of a constitutional amendment in 2010 that either defines lotteries in the state constitution or bans casinos.

One lawmaker whose committee would help write rules for running a state lottery says it would be “insulting to the people of Arkansas” for the Legislature to ignore the will of the electorate.

Senate State Agencies chairman Steve Faris, D-Malvern, says he’s willing to discuss any and all ideas, but he says asking the Legislature to reject what voters overwhelmingly approved is not an option.

A state lottery is not the ticket for Arkansas, according to Gov. Mike Beebe.

Beebe, who has said for more than a year he was undecided on the issue, voted today against a proposed constitutional amendment to create a state-run lottery to fund college scholarships.

Beebe spokesman Matt DeCample said the governor weighed the advantages of a lottery, including the potential to offer more scholarships and to keep money in the state that Arkansans are now spending on other states’ lotteries, against the disadvantage of a potential negative economic impact “on some people in our state who can least afford it.”

Concerns about the impact on the poor “weighed a little heavier in the end, especially with the economic picture like it is,” DeCample said.

Beebe cast his ballot at a polling site in his hometown of Searcy after a 40-minute wait.

Meanwhile, Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, who proposed the lottery amendment, cast his ballot today at a North Little Rock polling place. On the way in Halter told reporters he was confident voters would approve the measure.

Gov. Mike Beebe says his position on a proposed state-run lottery changes depending on the day of the week.

“This is one of those deals where it depends on what day of the week I wake up,” Beebe said today on his monthly call-in radio program on the Arkansas Radio Network. “One day I decide I’m going to vote for it and the next day I wake up and decide I’m not going to vote for it.”

Proposed Constitutional Amendment 3 would authorize the Legislature to create a lottery to fund college scholarships. Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, who proposed the amendment, has said the lottery could raise $100 million a year.

Beebe said he would love to have the money for college scholarships, and he understands that many Arkansans are already crossing state lines to buy lottery tickets. He said he also understands the argument of some lottery opponents that gambling can hurt families.

“I honestly don’t know how I’m going to vote and won’t know until I get in that booth,” he said.

Beebe said he would reveal afterward how he voted on the ballot question.

Bill Clinton’s sweep through his native Arkansas tomorrow and Saturday on behalf Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama and the rest of the party’s election ticket is set.

The former president, along with Gov. Mike Beebe and former Arkansas Govs. and U.S. Sens. Dale Bumpers and David Pryor, will headline a get-out-the-vote rally at 5 p.m. Friday at the corner of Fourth and Main streets in North Little Rock.

The quartet will follow Saturday with an 11:30 a.m. rally in downtown Pine Bluff and a 1 p.m. appearance in Jonesboro. They’ll be joined at various stops by Democratic Senators Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln, along with Democratic Congressmen Marion Berry, Vic Snyder and Mike Ross.

Obama has not visited Arkansas since an October 2006 appearance in support of Beebe and other state Democrats. Republican John McCain has visited the state twice since becoming the GOP presidential nominee. Former Arkansas and U.S. first lady Hillary Clinton headlined a rally for Obama in Little Rock two weeks ago.

Former President Bill Clinton will join Gov. Mike Beebe, state Democratic Party Chairman David Pryor and former U.S. Sen. Dale Bumpers at a series of rallies for Barack Obama this week, the Democratic Party of Arkansas announced today.

The get-out-the-vote rallies will be in North Little Rock on Friday and in Pine Bluff and Jonesboro on Saturday. The times and exact locations of the events have not been determined.

Former Arkansas and U.S. first lady Hillary Clinton headlined a rally for Obama in Little Rock on Oct. 10 and drew a crowd of about 3,000 people.

Former state Rep. Dwayne Dobbins will get quick action from the state’s highest court, one way or the other.

The Arkansas Supreme Court said today it will give expedited consideration to Dobbins’ effort to get his name on the Nov. 4 general election ballot in North Little Rock.

In a per curiam order, the court set a deadline of noon Thursday for the parties to file briefs and said it would not accept reply briefs.

Dobbins filed a lawsuit on Oct. 10 challenging the state Democratic Party’s refusal to certify him as a candidate for his former House seat.

The party adopted a rule in July prohibiting ballot certification of any Democratic candidate who has resigned from elective office as part of a plea deal to avoid felony prosecution.

Dobbins resigned from his House seat and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment in a 2005 plea deal after he was charged initially with felony sexual assault. Prosecutors said he improperly touched a 17-year-old girl at his home.

A Pulaski County circuit judge dismissed Dobbins’ lawsuit Friday, saying it was not filed in a timely manner. On Monday Dobbins filed an appeal with the state’s highest court and asked for expedited consideration.