Financial adviser jumps into race for U.S. Senate seat

A financial adviser from northwest Arkansas said he’s seeking the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, joining an increasingly crowded field of GOP hopefuls.

Buddy Rogers became the seventh Republican to join the race to challenge Lincoln when he announced his Senate bid. Lincoln is seeking a third term in the Senate.

“I have only one campaign promise and that’s I won’t abandon our conservative values when I get to Washington,” Rogers told The Associated Press in an interview. “That’s what angered people before, is the Republicans began acting like Democrats.”

Lincoln’s campaign did not immediately return a call seeking comment Tuesday.

Republicans have targeted Lincoln as she seeks re-election and Arkansas Senate President Bob Johnson has said he may run against Lincoln in the Democratic primary.

Rogers acknowledged that he faced an uphill battle in raising money in the crowded field for the GOP Senate nomination. Rogers wouldn’t say how much money his campaign hoped to raise by the end of the year. Lincoln has more than $3.2 million cash on hand for her re-election bid.

“That obviously is going to be my biggest challenge…. I’m going to have to be more effective in my use of money and I’m going to have to be a better candidate to overcome the deficiency of money compared to other candidates,” Rogers said.

Other Republicans in the running include state Sen. Gilbert Baker of Conway, businessman Tom Cox of Little Rock, Safe Foods CEO Curtis Coleman, state Sen. Kim Hendren of Gravette, businessman Fred Ramey of Searcy and retired Army Col. Conrad Reynolds of Conway. Greenland Mayor John Gray has said he’ll seek the Green Party’s nomination to challenge Lincoln.