The chairman of the Republican Party of Arkansas is suing Democratic Attorney General candidate Nate Steel, claiming he is holding two government offices which is prohibited by state law.
At a press conference Tuesday at the state GOP headquarters, Doyle Webb said Steel is working as the city attorney for the southwest Arkansas town of Nashville, while also serving as a state House member.
"Nate Steel is in violation of the Arkansas Constitution and he has been caught with his hands in both the cookie jars of the treasuries of the city of Nashville and the state of Arkansas. That is not acceptable under Arkansas law," Webb said.
He filed the suit in Pulaski County Circuit Court and is asking that Steel repay money from one of the jobs.
Steel responded by saying he does not work for Nashville, though his private law firm does provide legal services for the city.
"This is a common issue in rural Arkansas where cities often do not have resident attorneys, in other words, enough attorneys that live within the city limits that can be either elected or appointed and the statutes clearly allow for contract attorneys to represent the city in those instances," Steel said.
He said the practice has been vetted and recommended by the Arkansas Municipal League and allowed by a state attorney general’s opinion.
"It’s been reviewed by several sources and it has never been an issue," Steel said.
With three weeks before Election Day, Steel called the suit frivolous.
"It’s October in a political year and the Republican candidate for attorney general is having some obvious campaign difficulties and it seems pretty obvious that this is an attempt to distract from that and create some kind of media stunt, so I can’t say that I’m surprised," Steel said.
The Democrat is running against Republican Leslie Rutledge and Libertarian Aaron Cash.
