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'''Kim D. Hendren''' (born February 6, 1938)<ref name=pvs>{{cite web|url=http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=27858|title=Project Vote Smart: Senator Kim Hendren (R)|publisher=Votesmart.org|access date=May 18, 2009}}</ref> is the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] minority leader and the chairman of the Energy Committee of the Arkansas State Senate. A native and resident of Gravette in Benton County in northwestern [[Arkansas]], Hendren represents District 9. He is a former [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] in the most Republican part of his state. Hendren is also an announced candidate for his party's nomination for the [[U.S. Senate]] in the 2010 primary election to oppose incumbent Democratic Senator [[Blanche Lincoln]].

'''Kim Dexter Hendren''' (born February 6, 1938)<ref name=pvs>{{cite web|url=http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=27858|title=Project Vote Smart: Senator Kim Hendren (R)|publisher=Votesmart.org|access date=May 18, 2009}}</ref> is the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] minority leader and the chairman of the Energy Committee of the Arkansas State Senate. A native and resident of Gravette in Benton County in northwestern [[Arkansas]], Hendren represents District 9. He is a former [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] in the most Republican part of his state. Hendren was an unsuccessful candidate for his party's nomination for the [[United States Senate]] in the 2010 primary election to oppose incumbent Democratic Senator [[Blanche Lincoln]].

==Education and family==

==Education and family==

   

   

From 1967-1969, Hendren served on the Gravette City Council and later the Gravette School Board. In 1978, Hendren was first elected as a Democrat to the state Senate at the same time that Clinton won his first two-year term as governor.<ref>''Arkansas Gazette'', Little Rock, [[Arkansas]], November 9, 1978</ref> Hendren won the Senate seat in 1978, after the incumbent Republican,  

From 1967-1969, Hendren served on the Gravette City Council and later the Gravette School Board. In 1978, Hendren was first elected as a Democrat to the state Senate at the same time that Clinton won his first two-year term as governor.<ref>''Arkansas Gazette'', Little Rock, [[Arkansas]], November 9, 1978</ref> Hendren won the Senate seat in 1978, after the incumbent Republican,  

Jim Caldwell, a Church of Christ minister from Rogers, stepped down after a decade in office.<ref>''Arkansas Outlook'', Republican Party newsletter, November–December 1968</ref>

[[Jim R. Caldwell]], a [[Church of Christ]] minister from Rogers, stepped down after a decade in office.<ref>''Arkansas Outlook'', Republican Party newsletter, November–December 1968.</ref>

In 1982, Hendren ran fourth in a five-candidate field, with 21,829 votes (3.85 percent), in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. After defeating Joe Purcell in a runoff election, former Governor [[Bill Clinton]] that year then toppled Republican Frank D. White, who had unseated Clinton in the [[Ronald W. Reagan]] sweep of 1980.<ref>Arkansas Secretary of State, Democratic gubernatorial primary election returns from 1982</ref>

In 1982, Hendren ran fourth in a five-candidate field, with 21,829 votes (3.85 percent), in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. After defeating Joe Purcell in a runoff election, former Governor [[Bill Clinton]] that year then toppled Republican Frank D. White, who had unseated Clinton in the [[Ronald W. Reagan]] sweep of 1980.<ref>Arkansas Secretary of State, Democratic gubernatorial primary election returns from 1982</ref>

Because Hendren ran for governor, he could not seek reelection to the state Senate. In 2001, he returned to the legislature, having won a single term in 2000—his first as a Republican—in the Arkansas House of Representatives. In 2003, he returned to the state Senate twenty years after he left the position. He ran unopposed in 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/assembly/2009/R/Pages/MemberProfile.aspx?member=Hendren|title=Senator Kim Hendren (R)|publisher=Arkleg.state.ar.us|access date-May 18, 2009}}</ref>

Because Hendren ran for governor, he could not seek reelection to the state Senate. In 2001, he returned to the legislature, having won a single term in 2000 — his first as a Republican — in the Arkansas House of Representatives. In 2003, he returned to the state Senate twenty years after he left the position. He ran unopposed for the senate in 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/assembly/2009/R/Pages/MemberProfile.aspx?member=Hendren|title=Senator Kim Hendren (R)|publisher=Arkleg.state.ar.us|access date-May 18, 2009}}</ref>

==U.S. Senate candidacy==

==U.S. Senate candidacy==

In May 2009, Hendren apologized after it was reported that during a meeting of the Pulaski County Republican Committee in Little Rock, he referred to Democratic U.S. Senator [[Charles Schumer]] of [[New York]] as "that [[Jew]]" after Schumer had criticized the Republican Party. "I ought not to have referred to it at all. When I referred to him as Jewish, it wasn't because I don't like Jewish people. I shouldn't have gotten into this Jewish business because it distracts from the issue. . . I believe in traditional values, like we used to see on ''The Andy Griffith Show''," Hendren said, adding that he does not use a [[Teleprompter]] and sometimes mispeaks in haste.<ref name=hendren>{{cite web|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/05/14/2009-05-14_oy_vey_arkansas_state_senator_kim_hendren.html|title=Michael McAuliff, "Oy vey! Arkansas State Senator Kim Hendren calls Chuck Schumer 'that Jew'"|publisher=''New York Daily News''|access date=May 16, 2009}}</ref> Schumer said that he accepted the apology. Hendren's comments drew a reprimand from Brian Walsh, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, who said that "Comments like this are completely inappropriate and don't have any place in public or private discourse."<ref name=hendren/>

In May 2009, Hendren apologized after it was reported that during a meeting of the Pulaski County Republican Committee in Little Rock, he referred to Democratic U.S. Senator [[Charles Schumer]] of [[New York]] as "that [[Jew]]" after Schumer had criticized the Republican Party. "I ought not to have referred to it at all. When I referred to him as Jewish, it wasn't because I don't like Jewish people. I shouldn't have gotten into this Jewish business because it distracts from the issue. . . I believe in traditional values, like we used to see on ''The Andy Griffith Show''," Hendren said, adding that he does not use a [[Teleprompter]] and sometimes mispeaks in haste.<ref name=hendren>{{cite web|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/05/14/2009-05-14_oy_vey_arkansas_state_senator_kim_hendren.html|title=Michael McAuliff, "Oy vey! Arkansas State Senator Kim Hendren calls Chuck Schumer 'that Jew'"|publisher=''New York Daily News''|access date=May 16, 2009}}</ref> Schumer said that he accepted the apology. Hendren's comments drew a reprimand from Brian Walsh, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, who said that "Comments like this are completely inappropriate and don't have any place in public or private discourse."<ref name=hendren/>

Hendren opposed the confirmation of [[United States Secretary of the Treasury]] [[Timothy Geithner]]. He also objects to runaway federal spending while each state is meanwhile required to balance its budget. He opposes Lincoln's vote to subsidize the giant [[AIG]] insurance company.<ref name=nwa/>  

Hendren opposed the confirmation of [[Barack Obama]]'s [[United States Secretary of the Treasury]] [[Timothy Geithner]]. He also objects to runaway federal spending while each state is meanwhile required to balance its budget. He also opposed Senator Blanche Lincoln's vote to subsidize the giant [[AIG]] insurance company.<ref name=nwa/>  

Hendren said that he favors strict enforcement of [[immigration]] laws but would "have to look at" potential [[amnesty]] for illegal immigrants already living in the United States.<ref name=nwa/> He opposed charging only in-state college tuition for children of illegal immigrants living in Arkansas.<ref name=nwa/>

Hendren said that he favors strict enforcement of [[immigration]] laws but would "have to look at" potential [[amnesty]] for illegal immigrants already living in the United States.<ref name=nwa/> He opposed charging only in-state college tuition for children of illegal immigrants living in Arkansas.<ref name=nwa/>

Hendren is the first Republican to enter the upcoming Senate contest, but state Senator Gilbert Baker of Conway in Faulkner County, a former state Republican chairman, and Tim Griffin, a former interim U.S. Attorney, are considered potential candidates.<ref name=hendren/>

Hendren lost the senatorial nomination to [[John Boozman]], who went on to unseat Blanche Lincoln.

==References==

==References==

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[[Category:Arkansas]]

[[Category:Arkansas]]

[[Category:Politicians]]

[[Category:Politicians]]