Democrat Risie Howard repeatedly challenged the voting record of U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, the Republican incumbent who represents Arkansas’ 4th Congressional District, during a debate broadcast by Arkansas PBS Thursday. 

While both candidates agreed on improving job opportunities, Howard noted Westerman voted against the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, legislation that included around $550 billion in federal money for roads and bridges, water infrastructure and internet access. Arkansas so far has received close to $3 billion for roads and bridges, broadband internet, clean water and public transit, according to the White House and news reports. The bill aimed to create jobs and to grow and make the economy more sustainable, according to the Biden administration. 

Arkansas’ 1st District congressional candidates debate immigration, agriculture

Westerman, a lifelong Garland County resident seeking a sixth term in office, said he supports the private sector creating jobs. When the government creates jobs, it means a bigger burden on taxpayers, he said.

“I don’t want to be dependent on the government creating jobs and again, I voted against the Infrastructure and Jobs Act because it’s anything but an infrastructure and jobs act,” Westerman said. “It was special handouts to different groups and it wasn’t about creating jobs. It was about more government spending.” 

The 4th District, which covers much of the western half of Arkansas, is home to a nascent lithium industry that Howard said could be a source of job creation. The Pine Bluff attorney suggested increasing jobs by requiring corporations that come to Arkansas to extract lithium to have manufacturing plants in the state.

“And that the lithium batteries have to be built in the state of Arkansas and the electric cars have to be built in the state of Arkansas,” she said. “This will provide jobs in one of the poorest parts of the state, the Delta, in the 21st century and beyond.” 

Arkansas is a rural state where nearly 16% of the population is below the poverty line, surpassing the national average 12.5%, according to the U.S. Census. 

Health care topics lead debate between Arkansas’ 2nd Congressional District candidates

About a third of Arkansans are on Medicaid, a state-federal program that provides services to low-income and disabled residents. Howard said she supports Medicaid expansion and the Affordable Care Act because many low-income Arkansans could not access health care without these programs. She also voiced support for Medicare as well as maintaining and not privatizing Social Security.

Westerman said Medicare and Social Security “are on a pathway to insolvency.” Without a solution, he said the U.S. will be in a position where the only money available for the programs will be what’s being paid in by people that are working.

“That could mean as much as a 20% or 30% cut because right now we’re depleting the Social Security Trust Fund and the Medicare Trust Fund,” he said. “So I’m for fixing those programs so that they’re here for the long run.”

Sharing a suggestion she received from a 4th District resident, Howard said she would be in favor of taxing everyone 6.2% to support Social Security. Currently, people who make over $168,600 are exempt from paying social security taxes.

While both candidates agreed that lawmakers should look for solutions to bolster the federal safety-net programs, they disagreed on issues related to abortion access, which has become a big political topic since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. 

Westerman noted that Arkansas’ abortion law includes an exception to save the life of the mother, and said protecting life is important because it’s one of the “unalienable rights” listed in the Declaration of Independence. 

Role of federal government in Arkansans’ lives directs 3rd Congressional District debate

About 63% of Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to the Pew Research Center; however, Westerman said he doesn’t care what national polls say because he “will always be on the side of life, unapologetically.”

Westerman said abortion is about “the innocent life of an unborn child” and it’s not about women’s health care as Democrats are saying.

Howard argued Westerman isn’t concerned about women, noting that he voted against the Women’s Health Protection Act and the Violence Against Women Act. 

“I think a woman, just like a man, should have a right to determine what happens to her body,” Howard said. “All people should have that right.”

As a Roman Catholic, Howard said her personal opinion is pro-life, but she’s always voted pro-choice because she believes abortion is a decision that should be between a woman and her doctor.

The full debate and a press conference with the candidates can be streamed here in its entirety. Arkansas PBS also hosted debates for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd districts earlier this week.