The Hill looks at Elliott and Wills Health Care Stands
Aaron Blake with The Hill has an interesting story today on the Democratic candidate’s lack of interesting in discussing health care. He notes particularly State Sen. Joyce Elliot and House Speaker Robbie Wills who are squaring off in the Second Congressional Disctrict.
The only candidate to say unequivocally that he would support the Senate bill, which could be voted on in the House next week, is a primary-care physician running to face Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-Pa.).
Dr. Manan Trivedi said it’s important to get the ball rolling on reconciliation. “The answer is yes,” he said flatly.
That was about as direct as the answers got — though another Democratic candidate, Arkansas state Sen. Joyce Elliott, said she was “inclined” to support the bill.
The campaigns of Trivedi’s and Elliott’s primary opponents — businessman Doug Pike and Arkansas state Rep. Robbie Wills, respectively — did not respond to multiple requests for comment over the course of the week.
“I most definitely think that we need to just bite the bullet and get with this process to get some kind of healthcare legislation in place,” said Elliott, who is running for the seat being vacated by retiring Rep. Vic Snyder (D-Ark.).
Elliott and others cited the unsettled nature of the bill for their deferred judgment.
Elliott had also told me in a previous interview that she would vote for the bill. “I prefer a single payer option but I am not tied to that,” Elliott said. “I recognize politics is an art and I can’t just do it by science.”
Wills previously said that he would not support the House version on the health care bill due to concerns over the cost to the state of Arkansas. I have not heard him change this position with the latest version being debated but he did tell me that he would not repeal the bill if it did pass. “Should the current house health care bill become law, I would not vote for repeal,” said Wills.



Only four hours to go on Monday morning before the filing closes and several questions remain. Look out for several surprises both in who files and who doesn’t file. 