After another week of absurdity from Washington, D.C., where modern-day gladiators entertained Donald Trump the birthday boy on the White House lawn and algae bloomed amok at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Arkansas Democrats turned out to welcome beltway veteran Mayor Pete. 

A giddy crowd a couple thousand strong came out to support Chris Jones, Democratic contender for Arkansas’ 2nd District, and to draw some inspiration from headliner Pete Buttigieg, the former U.S. transportation secretary and, perhaps more famously, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana. Buttigieg came to town after attending Thursday’s grand opening of Barack Obama’s presidential library in Chicago, to bolster Jones’ not-so-longshot campaign to turn District 2 back to blue.

Chris Jones supporters danced while they waited for their candidate to take the stage. Credit: Brian Chilson

The stage at the Dreamland Ballroom, a relic of Little Rock’s once-thriving Black-owned Ninth Street corridor just now starting to bounce back after interstate construction in the 1960s left it splintered and withered, was hung with bright orange campaign banners calling for “Affordability and Accountability for All.” 

A Pine Bluff native with physics degrees from Morehouse and MIT, Jones made an unsuccessful bid for governor in 2022, losing to Sarah Sanders. He’s now stepping up to challenge U.S. Rep. French Hill. Making life easier for lower and middle classes, and maybe a bit less cushy for the ritzier set, was the theme Friday, echoed by a lineup of introductory speakers that included state Rep. Tippi McCullough, former U.S. Congressman Vic Snyder and Dr. Jerrilyn Jones, an emergency room doctor and Chris Jones’ wife.

Dr. Jerrilyn Jones introduced her husband. Credit: Brian Chilson

“Everybody in here knows him, right?” McCullough said. “Have you ever been hugged by Chris Jones?” For a healthy fraction in the room, the answer was likely “Yes.” An ordained minister and girl dad, this is a candidate who’s as likely to go in for a hug as a handshake. 

A woman from Ozark who volunteered for his 2022 gubernatorial campaign said she was smitten by Chris Jones’ efforts to meet with a terminally ill supporter who wanted to vote for him before she died. That touchy, feely humanity bred a devotion that has her still stumping for Jones four years later.

Snyder, a doctor and Democrat who represented Arkansas in Congress from 1997 to 2011, told the crowd to think about Republican Hill’s recent votes that left more people uninsured and unable to afford medical care. “How does having more uninsured people help healthcare in Arkansas? How does it help our hospitals? How does it help our doctors, our physical therapists, our ambulance companies? It doesn’t help anyone. Chris Jones, we need you,” he said.

On his turn with the microphone, Chris Jones noted the date, Juneteenth, and encouraged his supporters to be like Major Gordon Granger, the Union man who arrived – albeit two years late – to let the enslaved people of Texas know they were free.

“We are in the midst of a deep darkness and despair in so many realms. We have a president that is unchecked. We have a Congress that is feckless, that is choosing to be silent in the moments when we need them to be heard,” he said. 

Chris Jones criticized Hill for using his position to benefit the rich rather than help the poor. “He is the most powerful banker in Congress, and he is using his power to do the bidding of big banks and billionaires.” 

Chris Jones is running for Arkansas’ 2nd District. Credit: Brian Chilson

Despite that criticism, Hill still got off easier than he might have. Buttigieg is taking a breather from the attack dog role he’s played so often in recent years, when he’s dropped into the belly of the beast at the Fox News studios to battle the misinformation machine and make the case for his own beleaguered Democratic Party. 

He switched into charm offensive mode for his Little Rock visit, unbuttoning his top button and sharing a vision of what he thinks Democrats in general, and Chris Jones specifically, can do, if only voters give them a shot.

The newly chartreuse Reflecting Pool and $600 million gold-encrusted ballroom Trump is planning to build in D.C. are not the fault of one man alone, he said.

Pete Buttigieg visits Little Rock. Credit: Brian Chilson

“The reality is, all of that stuff he’s getting away with would not happen but for the enablers in Congress. The president might not be on the ballot, but Mr. Hill is on the ballot,” Buttigieg said.

He listed a litany of votes Hill has made since Arkansas sent him to D.C. in 2015: Opposing the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that buoyed bridges, water systems and electric grids in Arkansas and elsewhere; approving higher overdraft fees and tax cuts that enrich Hill’s fellow bankers and members of the millionaire class; hacking away at food benefits for people who need the help.

“You know, when we were trying to get the votes to get that infrastructure bill passed, just about the most bipartisan thing I could think of, the one that brought all of those dollars to red and blue states alike, to red and blue communities alike, he said, ‘No.’”

The rally for Chris Jones was held in the historic Dreamland Ballroom. Credit: Brian Chilson

Sure, but is there really a chance to do much about it? After the last census, Arkansas Republicans redrew district maps specifically to divide and dilute the Democratic voting power knotted in a tight ball here in the capital city. 

“Look, they already know that on a fair map, they lose. That’s why they have used surgical precision to dismantle Democratic communities and the voting power of the Black community. That’s why Pulaski County is in three different congressional districts,” Buttigieg said.

This latest round of redistricting came after Buttigieg’s college buddy, state Sen. Clarke Tucker (D-Little Rock), made a pretty healthy run at Hill in 2018. Former state Sen. Joyce Elliott got close again in 2020, before 2nd District lines were redrawn for a Republican advantage.

“That’s the only reason the incumbent has a chance in this race, but I don’t think it’s enough,” Buttigieg said, before sending the crowd of blue-dot Democrats off to knock doors, talk to their Republican uncles and see if they can’t turn out the vote for Jones.