Hanke says No for Now; Darr To File as a Candidate
Over the weekend speculation grew that Kim Hanke of Hanke Brothers was considering jumping into the race for Lieutenant Governor as a Republican. The news first broke on twitter from Bradley Phillips and then spread to the Arkansas Blog with Max Brantley posting…
Kim Hanke has reportedly revived his long-standing interest in breaking into political life with a run for lt. gov. (Republican; he once employed Janet Huckabee, remember?). I know from talks with him of his interest in times past. I bet he’d get interested plenty, along with a gaggle of others, if the incumbent lt. gov., Bill Halter, aimed for something else.
I called up Hanke, who is a fellow Saline County resident where he serves on the Saline County Quorum Court. He told me that plans are not currently in the works for anything political above Justice of the Peace.
“No serious plans at this time,” Hanke told me. “It (running for office) has been discussed for years but my concern right now is for my family and keeping my commitment to my employees and customers.”
As for the report from Max Brantley over the weekend, Hanke said, “Max and I are good friend but he has a vivid imagination.” Hanke believes that this speculation began when he briefly hired Janet Huckabee to work for him that he must have political aspirations.
Hanke said that for now he is content supporting conservatives such as his friend Jeremy Hutchinson both financial and as a volunteer and in serving the people in his district as a Justice of Peace. He did leave the possibility open to change his mind in the future but said that unless things drastically change, he would not be doing so in 2010 because of his family and business commitments.
At the same time, news comes in from the only announced Republican candidate Mark Darr that he plans to go from the exploratory phase to the official candidate phase this next week. A friend tells me that Darr just sold his Larry’s Pizza business in west Little Rock and expects him to be putting some of this money into his campaign soon.
I asked Darr about this and told me that he is planning on using some of his personal funds to kick-start his campaign. He tells that he has been visiting with folks around the state and expects to increase his focus on fundraising soon. “People are ready for new leadership in Little Rock,” said Darr. “They want a conservative alternative and someone who is not a career politician.”