Second District Republican hopeful Tim Griffin says he has the endorsement of the last Republican elected to represent Central Arkansas in Congress.

The endorsement is from Ed Bethune, who was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1978 and served until 1985.

“Tim Griffin will make an outstanding congressman,” Bethune is quoted as saying in a release from Griffin’s campaign. “He is the right person to represent the common sense conservative values of the 2nd District; and, we need more veterans serving in Congress.”

Griffin, a former Karl Rove aide and interim U.S. attorney, is a major in the Army Reserve and was previously deployed to Iraq.

“I am honored to have the support and endorsement of the only person to win the Second District seat as a Republican since 1874,” Griffin said. “Congressman Bethune is well respected among conservatives in Arkansas. He is a former state party chairman, prosecutor, federal agent and a military veteran. I look forward to working with Rep. Bethune as our campaign continues to build momentum and grassroots support.”

Griffin is seeking the GOP nomination for the seat now held by U.S. Rep Vic Snyder, D-Little Rock, who recently announced he will not seek re-election. Republicans David Meeks of Conway and Scott Wallace of Little Rock also have said they will run for Snyder’s seat, along with state Sen. Joyce Elliott, D-Little Rock.

Gov. Mike Beebe says he’s not interested in running for anything except a second term as governor.

Talking to reporters after today’s meeting of the Little Rock Political Animals Club, Beebe said no one has asked him to run for national office. But he acknowledged recent speculation and said supporters have been calling saying they’ve heard he’s running for the U.S. Senate.

“We’re trying to quell that as fast as we can,” the governor said.

Beebe offered this during the meeting at the Governor’s Mansion: “I can tell you unequivocally I have no desire to run for any other political office. I like being the governor. I hope people will let me stay.”

The governor appeared unswayed despite rampant speculation spurred by incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln’s declining poll numbers and Republican gains elsewhere in the country.

“You can actually affect positively more people’s lives in a shorter period of time and with more unilateral action in this job than I suspect you can in any job except perhaps president of the United States,” Beebe said.

U.S. Rep Marion Berry is expected to announce Monday he will not seek re-election this year.

The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza has details here.

U.S. Rep Mike Ross, D-Prescott, honored former state legislator James Jordan of Monticello and former Navy SEAL Jeremy Wise of Virginia, an Arkansas native, with separate entries today in the Congressional Record.

Jordan died Dec. 27 at the age of 84. He was elected to the state House in 1986 and served for 12 years.

Wise, a 35-year-old private contractor, was killed Dec. 30 in an attack on a CIA outpost near Khost, Afghanistan. He was raised in Arkansas and graduated from Hendrix College in Conway.

Scantily clad women with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals braved frigid weather in downtown Little Rock today to promote veganism and hand out free Tofurkey sandwiches — though the women did not appear to be wearing only lettuce leaves, as PETA had announced. The Arkansas Blog has a photo.

Responding to a revenue shortfall in Oklahoma, a legislator has filed a bill he says would boost lottery ticket sales in that state.

Oklahoma Sen. Richard Lerblance’s bill would eliminate a requirement that at least 35 percent of lottery ticket sales go to schools and colleges in the state. Lerblance says the change would allow the lottery to offer bigger prizes and attract more players.

Arkansas’ lottery to fund college scholarships, which launched in September, has no restriction on the percentage of proceeds that must go to the state. Lottery officials say about 25 percent of ticket sales will fund scholarships.

U.S. Sen Blanche Lincoln, still the focus of national attention in the health care debate, says today her office has been flooded with so many calls and e-mails that her phone and computer systems have crashed several times.

Most of the calls and e-mails causing the crashes are from out of state, Lincoln told the Downtown Kiwanis Club in Little Rock. Many are in response to e-mails circulating across the country urging the recipients to contact her, she said.

“We’ve tried to devise multiple ways to be able to collectively and respectfully push those people to the side so that we can actually address Arkansans that are calling or sending e-mails in to the office, but it’s been very difficult and we haven’t figured out just exactly how we can do that without just simply hanging up on people,” she said.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals says women wearing “nothing but strategically placed lettuce leaves” will hand out freebees Wednesday in downtown Little Rock to promote veganism.

PETA says the women will hand out free Tofurkey sandwiches beginning at noon at the intersection of Center Street and Markham Avenue.

Weather could have a chilling effect on the event. The National Weather Service is predicting a high temperature of 39 degrees in Little Rock on Wednesday.

No word from PETA on whether medical personnel will be on hand to treat the women for frostbite.

U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln revved up her re-election bid today, figuratively speaking, with announcement of her 2010 campaign team and campaign headquarters.

Former Lincoln congressional aide Steve Patterson is back to head the group as campaign manager, as he did in Lincoln’s previous Senate bids in 1998 and 2004.

The two-term senator says she plans to run a “positive, aggressive campaign that competes for every vote.” Her base of operations will be Little Rock’s historic Union Station.

“I realize that the national Republicans have put a target on my back so we have our work cut out for us,” Lincoln says.

Seven Republicans are seeking the GOP nomination to challenger her next year, and the party’s field is likely to grow with former state senator and 2004 Lincoln challenger Jim Holt apparently primed to make another U.S. Senate run.

Lt. Gov. Bill Halter and state Senate leader Bob Johnson may be mulling whether Lincoln is weak enough for them to challenge her in a Democratic primary. She has not fared well in recent political polls and has come under criticism for supporting the Democratic push for health care reform.

Her fight-back position includes having more than $4 million in campaign cash in the bank.

The Democratic Party of Arkansas reports it has hired Gabe Holmstrom, former spokesman for Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, to serve as senior adviser for the 2010 campaign year.

Holmstrom will focus on the U.S. Senate race.

“I am happy to have Gabe back on the team,” state party chairman Todd Turner says in a news release. “I look forward to having him on board to ask all of the Republican Senate candidates the tough questions.”

Holmstrom, a Cabot native, has also served as executive director of the state Democratic Party and as campaign manager for U.S. Rep. Marion Berry.