The perennial candidate: Drew Pritt

I originally wrote this article for Arkansas Tonight, where I frequently freelance. Please check them out and give them some love.

Drew Pritt

He’s ran for city council in Warren, county supervisor in Bradley County, the Little Rock School Board, and lieutenant governor in 2006. He then announced a run this year for the US Senate seat currently held by Blanche Lincoln before dropping out of the race last week in order to run for lieutenant governor, again. Any Arkansas political observers hear his name and smirk. Who is this man who’s lost more elections than most politicians have ever ran in? His name is Drew Pritt, a 34-year-old University of Arkansas – Little Rock political science and history major.

Pritt is well-known by most in the Arkansas political establishment, having run in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor against now-incumbent Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, as well as being an outspoken advocate for gay rights in this traditionally conservative state. But while many might know that he has an appetite for politics, many might not know his other passions.

In a series of interviews he did with me for Arkansas Tonight, Pritt shared stories from his life, including his past work as a field operative during Gen. Wesley Clark’s failed presidential campaign during the 2004 Democratic primaries as well as why it is that he was wanting to replace Sen. Blanche Lincoln before deciding to challenge Lt. Gov. Bill Halter to a re-match for his seat.

“I’m maybe the only person you’ll ever meet who actually wants to be lieutenant governor,” he said as we discussed his decision to change campaign direction. “I never wanted to be a US Senator, but I felt that I had no other choice but to run since no one else was challenging Blanche’s decisions regarding health care [reform] and the Employee Free Choice Act.”

The issue of health care reform is important to Pritt. He’s a cancer survivor who knows how important good insurance is. He told me, “it can literally be the difference between life and death.”

With regards to the Employee Free Choice Act, Pritt is very strongly pro-union. He says that unionization is the right of all workers. “They shouldn’t be penalized for doing what is right. If they want and feel that they need to unionize, they should be able to do it without fear of losing their jobs,” he said passionately, as if trying to rally the base, even though it was just a conversation between the two of us.

As part of his fight for the rights of the worker, he comes back to his fight for civil rights, wanting to protect the rights of homosexuals to live and work without fear of losing their own jobs. “We should be able to be who we are without fear,” he said.

And while his fight might appear noble and he might just appear to be a man wanting to make a difference in his home state, there is another side to Drew Pritt. In 1999 and 2000, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that he was charged with felonies in Bradley and Drew Counties related to writing several hot checks. In their report, they also mention an arrest in Jonesboro and being detained in West Virginia for similar charges.

When asked about the charges, Pritt told me, “It was a tough time for me. I made some stupid mistakes. But I’ve learned from them. The charges were dropped and I’m obviously not a convicted felon since I can still vote and hold public office.”

The charges from the last decade aren’t the only embarrassing episodes in Pritt’s life. The Arkansas Ethics Commission investigated Pritt after the 2006 race for lieutenant governor and filed a report stating the following:

“IT IS, THEREFORE, CONSIDERED, DECIDED and ORDERED by the Commission that the Respondent, Drew Pritt, shall be issued a Public Letter of Warning and is hereby fined $250 for: (i) failing to timely file C&E reports for January and February of 2006; (ii) failing to provide reporting for the thirty-day period between January 16 and February 15, 2006 on a C&E report; and (iii) failing to file C&E reports for March and April of 2006.”

Pritt says the matter was just a misunderstanding on his part on how to file proper campaign reports with the commission, although he did admit that he paid the fine after having retained a lawyer to plead his case to the commission. He also went back and filed proper reports to ensure that he was in compliance.

Upon finding out about the ethics violations, I asked Pritt to be completely honest with me and tell me if there was anything else I was going to find out in my research. After stumbling for a bit, Pritt admitted that he has been competing as a drag queen for the last three years and has actually been crowned Miss Gay Central Arkansas. When asked how this would play with family values voters across the state, particularly in northwest Arkansas, Pritt said, “I don’t see that this goes against any morals. I’m not wanting to be a woman, I just happen to do drag shows. It’s a billion dollar a year industry. And if you looked into the history of it you would understand that it’s about more than dressing up as a woman.”

Pritt, a very motivated and politically active individual, does have some issues to work through before becoming a serious candidate for any elected office. It is obvious that while he truly does want to work for all Arkansas voters, this self-described progressive Democrat is going to have to grow a bit first.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Drew Pritt for Lieutenant Governor