Former state Rep. Dwayne Dobbins is taking his fight to get on the Nov. 4 ballot to the state’s highest court.

Dobbins filed an appeal today with the Arkansas Supreme Court in his lawsuit challenging the Democratic Party of Arkansas’ refusal to certify him for the general election ballot as a candidate for North Little Rock’s District 39 seat in the state House of Representatives. A Pulaski County circuit judge dismissed the lawsuit Friday, saying it was not filed in a timely manner.

Dobbins claims the state Democratic Party violated his due process rights when it refused to certify him after it passed a rule prohibiting ballot certification of any Democratic candidate who previously 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.

Early voting for the general election started Monday.

A lawyer for former state Rep. Dwayne Dobbins said this afternoon he will appeal a circuit judge’s dismissal of Dobbins’ lawsuit challenging a Democratic Party rule that barred Dobbins from the November general election ballot.

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza dismissed Dobbins’ lawsuit this morning, ruling that the lawsuit was not filed in a timely manner.

Dobbins would not say immediately after the hearing if he planned to appeal, but his attorney, Jimmy Morris Jr., said later he would file an appeal with the Arkansas Supreme Court on Monday, the same day early voting begins for the Nov. 4 general election.

“Of course I would ask for them to have a hearing scheduled as quickly as possible,” Morris said.

Dobbins filed his challenge on Oct. 10, just 10 days before the start of early voting.

“Now we’re on the cusp of deciding a presidential election, and it’s late to be involved in this issue,” Piazza said in making his ruling today. 

Dobbins claimed state Democratic Party violated his due process rights when it refused to certify him for the general election ballot in his former North Little Rock House district after Dobbins did not draw opposition for the May Democratic primary. 

The party approved a rule in July denying certification as a Democratic candidate to anyone who resigned from public office as part of a plea deal to avoid felony prosecution.

Dobbins was serving as a state representative in 2005 when he was charged with felony sexual assault. Prosecutors said he improperly touched a 17-year-old girl at his home.
Dobbins pleaded guilty to misdemeanor harassment and resigned from his House seat in a plea bargain with prosecutor. His wife, Sharon Dobbins, now holds the seat and was expected to run for re-election this year, but on the last day of the filing period her husband filed to run instead.

Pulaski County Attorney Karla Burnett argued during today’s hearing that Dobbins was required to file his challenge within 20 days of being notified on July 21 that he would not be certified as the Democratic Party nominee.

The county could not possibly reprint 200,000 ballots in time for the election, she said, noting that absentee ballots have already been mailed and early voting starts Monday.
Morris argued that the deadline did not apply because the Democratic Party acted illegally and that a ruling in his client’s favor would affect only the ballots in House District 39.

“If that’s 200,000 ballots, gosh, that’s a lot of people in District 39,” Morris said.

A proposed constitutional amendment to create a state lottery will remain on the November general election ballot, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled today.

The court rejected arguments by the Family Council Action Committee that the wording of the ballot measure proposed by Lt. Gov. Bill Halter was incomplete and misleading; did not define the term “state lottery,” and did not disclose that the measure could open the door to casino gambling.

Halter and the Family Council Action Committee have scheduled separate news conferences later today to discuss the ruling.

Hillary Clinton was warmly received at a rally in Little Rock today for Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

Standing at a lecturn that read “Paint Arkansas blue” and in front of a banner that read, “Welcome home, Hillary!” Clinton told a cheering audience of about 3,000 people she was appreciative “beyond words” for the 70-percent vote she received in Arkansas’ Feb. 5 Democratic primary. She asked Arkansans to give the same level of support to Obama.

Clinton named off a list of issues — the economic crisis, the energy crisis, education, health care, the war in Iraq — repeating after each item, “There is only one answer, and it’s Barack Obama.”

Others who spoke included actors Mary Steenburgen, an Arkansas native, and her husband Ted Danson; U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln; U.S. Reps. Marion Berry, D-Gillett, and Vic Snyder, D-Little Rock; Gov. Mike Beebe; state Democratic Party Chairman David Pryor; retired general and 2004 presidential candidate Wesley Clark; and state Sen. Tracy Steele, D-North Little Rock.

Lincoln had strong words for Republican nominee John McCain and running mate Sarah Palin, who have stepped up attacks on Obama in recent days.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the despicable, unhinged tone of the McCain-Palin campaign during the last few days should make us even more determined … We should stand up and call it what it is: It’s divisive, it’s irresponsible, it’s disgusting, it’s demeaning and it’s unpatriotic, because that’s not the country that we are,” Lincoln said.

Clinton was scheduled to attend a fundraiser for Obama after the rally at the Little Rock home of Kaki Hockersmith and Max Mehlberger.

It’s now official: Former Arkansas first lady Hillary Clinton will campaign for Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama in Little Rock on Oct. 10. The announcement came today from state Democratic Party Chairman David Pryor.
“We’re very, very pleased that she’s coming. She’s going to stir up a lot of interest here in the campaign,” Pryor said.
State party spokeswoman Darinda Sharp says Gov. Mike Beebe, Pryor and other elected officials and Democratic leaders are expected to join Clinton for a get-out-the vote rally. The time and location haven’t been determined, but she says the rally likely will be about 5 p.m. at the Capitol.

A coalition formed to oppose an initiated act to ban unmarried couples living together from adopting or serving as foster parents in Arkansas says it also will fight a state policy banning placement of foster children with “cohabitating adults.”
Members of Arkansas Families First say they will testify in opposition to the policy at a Department of Human Services hearing on Thursday. The group requested the hearing after learning recently that the policy, which was put in place through a directive in 2005, has never been formalized.
“We simply do not have enough foster homes in the state, and by creating blanket policies such as these that arbitrarily disqualify potential foster-care homes, that just simply does more harm to children, and they’ve already been through a lot,” said Jennifer Ferguson, deputy director of Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families.
The Family Council, which authored the proposed initiated act on adoption and foster parenting that will appear on the November ballot, plans to testify in support of the DHS policy. Family Council Executive Director Jerry Cox called Arkansas Families First’s request for a hearing “an unnecessary distraction.”
“The Department of Human Services is trying to protect children,” he said. “These groups have stepped in, they have an agenda, and now they’re complicating the process. I think that’s unfortunate for the children of Arkansas.”
Cox said the Family Council will continue to campaign for its initiated act, which would differ from the state policy in that it would ban both adoption and foster parenting by unwed couples, whereas the policy only addresses foster parenting.
The hearing will be 10 a.m. Thursday at the Department of Human Services’ main office in downtown Little Rock.

State Rep. Steve Breedlove, D-Greenwood, should be happy to know that his re-election campaign ranks high on Gov. Mike Beebe’s list of priorities.
Beebe said today he recently refused to cancel plans to appear at an upcoming campaign event for Breedlove in favor of an event that had been scheduled for the same day with former Arkansas first lady Hillary Clinton in support of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.
“They had it scheduled at a time that I’d already committed to a Democratic state representative to be at a fundraiser for him in the western part of the state, actually Breedlove,” Beebe said. “I said I can’t back out on that, so they moved it to a later evening event where I can be there.”
Asked for specifics about the event for Obama, Beebe referred questions to state Democratic Party Chairman David Pryor. Party spokeswoman Darinda Sharp said later that a visit by Clinton has not been confirmed.
“We don’t know who is and isn’t coming yet,” she said.
Former President Bill Clinton said last week he planned to campaign in Arkansas for Obama. An Obama campaign worker said Monday that no Arkansas appearances by either Bill or Hillary Clinton are on the campaign’s calendar at the moment.
Breedlove will face Republican challenger John Van Gorder of Greenwood in the Nov. 4 election.

The Arkansas Supreme Court today set oral arguments for Oct. 13 in the Family Council Action Committee’s lawsuit challenging Lt. Gov. Bill Halter’s proposed constitutional amendment to create a state-run lottery to fund college scholarships.
The Family Council contends the wording of the ballot question is inaccurate, incomplete and misleading. Halter says the wording, which was approved by Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, is clear.
The Family Council wants the court to strike the measure from the ballot or rule that any votes cast on the measure cannot be counted.
Early voting for the Nov. 4 election starts Oct. 20.

Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., was critical Thursday of John McCain’s decision to suspend his presidential campaign to return to the Senate as Congress considers a massive bailout of financial institutions:

“I think he’s distracting things (with) the idea he’s got to stop what he’s doing and come back and rescue the Congress,” Lincoln said during a conference call with reporters.

McCain is a Republican senator from Arizona.

Lincoln said members of Congress have been working for nearly a week to find a solution to the nation’s economic crisis. The Bush administration’s $700 billion bailout proposal was met with tepid support on Capitol Hill.

“There’s a lot of us that have been working on this over the past five to six days,” she said. “We certainly hope Sen. McCain will come back and vote on it and participate if he wants. We’re doing that now. I don’t think he needs to halt this campaign.”