Democratic state Rep. Steve Magie faces a challenge from Republican Mark Brannan in the Arkansas House District 56 election. He’s looking to defend the seat steeped in a sea of Republican districts again this year.
Brannan did not respond to requests for an interview, though an invitation still stands. Little Rock Public Radio’s Amir Mahmoud spoke with Magie. You can hear their conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity, in the link above, or read an edited transcript below.
Amir Mahmoud: House District 56 is kind of a blueberry in the tomato soup, and it's been closely contested in recent elections. Tell me about that.
Rep. Steve Magie: Well it's tough. I have a tough district. Conway is pretty purple. Before redistricting, the district that I represented was a pretty strong Democratic district. It was probably sixty-forty Democrat, Republican, and that district still had tough races…
In 2020, they changed the district, and they spread it out horizontally toward Vilonia and into West Conway. And that was one of the toughest races that I've had. I had a very likable, very knowledgeable opponent. [He had] great communication skills, [and was] a good looking guy. I'm not saying some of [my other opponents] haven't been tough, but that was really a tough race. In the end, I won by ten votes.
AM: The Democratic Party is a big tent with all kinds of political views. How would you describe your political views?
SM: I hope they let me in the tent. I'm really sort of a left of center type of person. I'm pretty practical. I'm open to discussion and reasoning [on] just about anything. I tend to be maybe a little more fiscally responsible or fiscally aware of what we're doing and what we're spending, and how we're spending it. That's one of the reasons that I've kind of stayed on budget over the years that I've been there. I’m kind of a Mike Beebe kind of guy really. You don't spend what you don't have.
On the other side of the equation, I'm probably a little more liberal than some people want me to be. I think everyone's created in God's image. And we may not like them, we may not like what they do or who they are, but we got to respect them.
AM: What are some of the big issues affecting Conway in your district that you've taken note of?
SM: There are a lot of issues that come with a lot of rapid growth: building the streets and building the roads and the infrastructure; servicing the fire department, having adequate fire service, having adequate police service; and EMS services and hospital services… All those things are always things that we continue to work on [with] the growth of the city. And Lake Brewer – I mean, we've had to curtail water all summer.
I stay in very, very close contact and communication with all the local leaders in the community. I stay in touch with them, and I stay in touch with a lot of the developers.
We'll get legislation [that] comes up that may be good for Fayetteville, but it's not very good for Conway. You know, I'm a local guy. I'm going to take care of my folks. I'm going to take care of Fayetteville too, but my allegiance is here.
AM: There's talk of bringing a data center to Conway. What are your thoughts on that?
SM: We're potentially going to have a data center. That's one of the things that I've been hearing a lot about [while] canvassing. People have a lot of concerns, and I have concerns. I think that's something that the legislature – like with the cryptocurrency things.. is going to address some of those concerns this next session.
If they can work it all out, great. But I wouldn't be opposed to having a moratorium placed on them until adequate studies were done. If we can alleviate people's concerns, and it turns out that they could be good community corporate partners, well, great. But if you can't get rid of those concerns, maybe you have to put a moratorium on them for a period of time.
AM: As a doctor, how do you feel about the state of healthcare in Arkansas, particularly Medicaid?
SM: A lot of people don't think that anything that happens to Medicaid affects them. [They think], “I'm not on Medicaid, you know. How's that going to affect me? That's not my insurance. I got private insurance at work.” Well, let me tell you what, it’s going to affect you.
The ARHOME program... was the private option when I first went in, which Gov. Mike Beebe championed and put through with bipartisan support. It's been a big fight to keep it over the years. But that was a great program, and it saved our hospitals. Not only did it save our rural hospitals, it saved Conway Regional Hospital – it did. And now, because of the federal legislation, it’s not state … they changed the way they’re going to pay for that.
So it's gone. Reimbursement is going to go down for hospitals. Hospitals are already … under a lot of financial difficulties. And not only that, with some of the requirements to stay on Medicaid, all the work requirements and that sort of thing, there's going to be a number of people that are dropped off. Doctors don't turn people away because they can't pay and hospitals don't either. But somewhere the system's going to break.
AM: So why should voters select you in November over your opponent?
SM: People know me in the community; I've been here a long time… [When] I get go to the doors [they say], “Hey, doc. I voted for you every year.” And that's both sides of the aisle. So, I think my name recognition is more than his.
I've been active in community affairs for a number of years. I've not seen him have any real activity in community affairs. I go to city council meetings. I just don't know who he is, and I think he's a little unknown.
The other thing is I think I have the temperament and the experience that you need to deal in today's environment. You can't just go down there with a boisterous attitude [thinking] that you're going to change the world.
