Politically Stagnant in the Delta Fog

One of the first headlines I came across this morning from the Associated Press read: A Wave of Democratic Primary Upsets Has One Thing in Common: Change.

I’d like to believe that holds true here in my home state of Arkansas. But the truth is, if there’s any measurable change happening locally, it’s merely a shift from deep red to a slightly lighter shade of red. For now, anyway.

I shed party labels long ago—even after spending four years working for a Blue Dog Democrat who represented Arkansas’s First Congressional District. The distaste for partisan power preservation took root back then. My current hope for Arkansas isn’t rooted in party preference; it’s simply a desire for a better way forward.

Despite national polling trends and the momentum shifting within an evolving national landscape, there is virtually no prospect of political change in the First District this cycle. Backed by token opposition and a million-dollar war chest (which still goes a long way here), Republican Rick Crawford is on track for a ninth term. The vulnerabilities exist, but deep red political habit still saturates the region.

Crawford’s fifteen years in Congress have been less than impressive. He bought into the standard Beltway party playbook as quickly as anyone—a system that eats up newcomers, even those with the best intentions. His decision to serve as a lead plaintiff in a federal lawsuit seeking roughly $418,000 in retroactive back pay is an insult to a district where the per capita income sits around $30,000. Crawford already earns $174,000 a year.

Yet, almost nobody talks about it.

Nor do we have honest discussions about the structural conditions in the First District that ought to be unfathomable today. Setting aside the political spectacle of the moment, look at the underlying realities:

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