Charlie Daniels
From Ballotpedia
| Charlie Daniels | |
 | |
| Arkansas Secretary of State | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 2002 | |
| Current term ends 2010 | |
| Political party | Democrat |
| Website | Official Arkansas Secretary of State website |
Contents |
Education
- Attended South Arkansas University
- Attended University of Arkansas at Little Rock
- Doctorate Degree honoris causa, Shorter College
Political career
Daniels first started out in politics as a member of the Parker's Chapel School Board. He relocated to central Arkansas when then-Governor David Pryor appointed him Director of the Arkansas Department of Labor in 1974. He was re-appointed to the position when Bill Clinton began his first term as the state's governor. For four years beginning in 1980, he was the Director of Government Affairs for the Arkansas Electric Cooperatives. In 1984, he was elected as Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands, being subsequently reelected to four-year terms in 1986, 1990, 1994, and 1998.
Other roles
- Chair, Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission (2002-present)
- Member, National Association of Secretaries of State (2002-present)
- Board Member, Information Network of Arkansas
- Member, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 1703
Controversies
Nick Wilson
Arkansas Watch reports that Charlie Daniels had a couple of notable ties with disgraced former State Senator Nick Wilson, who was convicted of defrauding Arkansas taxpayers out of millions of dollars meant for disadvantaged children. As Director of the Department of Labor in 1980, he invested state funds in two banks within Nick Wilson's home district, one of which he owned stock in. The Planters and Stockman Bank of Pocahontas received $50,000 in Arkansas state funds for a Certificate of Deposit. Not only did Wilson own stock in the bank, his law partner, Murray Grider, served as attorney for the bank. Both Charlie Daniels and Nick Wilson maintained that the deposits arose from a chance meeting at Charlie Daniel’s state office.
The other link, also in 1980, between Daniels and Wilson involved the then-Director of the Department of Labor collaborating with Wilson in securing a state consulting contract for Philip Ledbetter, part-owner with Wilson in International Safety Consultants Inc., which had first been formed by Wilson's law partner, Murray Grider. Ledbetter was told by Wilson to apply for a contract with Worker’s Compensation Commission, which, in addition to the state legislature's Joint Performance Review Committee, was demanding more data relation to claims results from accidents in public agency positions. Ledbetter was granted the contract. When he tried to apply for another consulting contract, his request was declined, due largely in part to the shortage funds. Charlie Daniels and his Labor Department tried to find a way around this, requesting $64,000 to fund the contract through the Ozarks Regional Commission (ORC). It was during this time that the name of the company owned by Ledbetter was changed to Project Systems, Inc. Julie McDonald, Governor Clinton’s aid for ORC projects, turned down the request partly because the company listed no telephone number. When McDonald asked for a public presentation, Project Systems withdrew for their application.[2]
Audit of travel expenses
A new law written in 1979 called for the establishment of a system for reimbursement for travel expenses, largely as a means of reducing the use of state-government credit cards. A state agency under the new law could set aside a sum from its regular appropriations for this purpose. Any employee of that agency that requested travel money in advance would obtain a loan from said fund. The employee would then get a reimbursement check after filing an expense report, which would then be used to repay the loan. These loans were to made out only for individual trips on state business by state employees who required a cash advance. The rule required that these loans be repaid when the employee received reimbursement for the expenses of that single trip. Daniels, as head of the State's Labor Department, had authorized an advance of $495 to himself that he did not intend to pay back until after several trips, believe to have 'made more sense' for him to have done it that way. Audits conducted by the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee and the state Finance & Administration Department in December 1980 revealed that out of the $5,000 that had been authorized for the department's travel fund, about $2,600 was outstanding; of the outstanding amount, $1,250 was in December loans alone.
The exact same day the audit report came out, Daniels announced he had submitted his resignation to the newly elected governor, Frank White.
Campaign contributions
| 2006 Race for Secretary of State - Campaign Contributions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Raised | $247,943 | |||
| Total Raised by Primary Opponent | N/A | |||
| Total Raised by Gen. Election Opponent | $197,442 | |||
| Top 5 Contributors | Arkansas DNC $5,000 (2.02% of Total) | |||
| Electrical Workers $4,000 (1.61%) | ||||
| Tim Herron $4,000 (1.61%) | ||||
| Craig D. Campbell $3,000 (1.21%) | ||||
| International Paper $2,500 (1.01%) | ||||
| Individuals v. Institutions | $136,393 (55.0%) | |||
| $81,475 (32.9%) | ||||
| In v. Outside State | $205,943 (83.1%) | |||
| $42,000 (16.9%) | ||||
Electoral history
| State Government |
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| State officials |
| State legislatures |
| Elections, 2010 |
| Primary election dates, 2010 |
| Find your state |
2002
- 2002 Race for Secretary of State - Democratic Primary
- Charlie Daniels ran unopposed
| 2002 Race for Secretary of State - General Election [3] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Percentage | |||
 Charlie Daniels (D)
| 62.1% | |||
| Janet Huckabee (R) | 37.9% | |||
| Total votes | 792,914 | |||
2006
- 2006 Race for Secretary of State - Democratic Primary
- Charlie Daniels ran unopposed
| 2006 Race for Secretary of State - General Election [4] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Percentage | |||
| Charlie Daniels (D)
| 61.6% | |||
| Jim Lagrone (R) | 35.4% | |||
| Ralph Scully (Green) | 3% | |||
| Total votes | 761,087 | |||
Family life
Charlie Daniels currently resides in Bryant, Arkansas. He was married to the late-Patricia Ann Burleson for forty-six years. The couple had two children together, Marsha and Chuck. Daniels now has four grandsons and two granddaughters. He is also a practicing Baptist.
Contact Information
Main Offices
State Capitol, RM 256
Little Rock, AR 72201
Phone: 501-682-1010
E-mail: General_info@sos.arkansas.gov
External links
References
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