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Created page with "{{Infobox officeholder |name=James Holland "Jim" Keet |image=Jim Keet of AR.jpg |office=Arkansas State Senator for District 15 |term_start=January 1993 |term_end=January 1..."
{{Infobox officeholder
|name=James Holland "Jim" Keet
|image=Jim Keet of AR.jpg
|office=[[Arkansas]] State Senator for District 15
|term_start=January 1993
|term_end=January 1997
|preceded=Constituency established
|succeeded=[[Jim Argue]]
|office 2=Arkansas State Representativ<br> for Distrct 58
|term_start2=January 1989
|term_end2=January 1991
|preceded2=Dana Moreland
|succeeded2=Paul Doramus
|birth_date=May 12, 1949
|birth_place=Springfield, [[Missouri]]
|death_date=
|death_place=
|party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]
|spouse=Margaret Osborn Keet
|children=James<br>Chase<br>Jake<br>Cassie
|alma_mater=Cox School of Business at<BR> [[Southern Methodist University]]
|religion=[[United Methodist]]
}}
'''James Holland Keet''', known as '''Jim Keet''' (born May 12, 1949), is a [[restaurant]] owner in [[Little Rock]], [[Arkansas]], a former state senator and state representative. He was the [[Republican Party|Republican]][nominee for [[governor]] of Arkansas in the [[general election]] held on November 2, 2010, but he lost his race to incumbent [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] [[Mike Beebe]].
==Background==
Keet was born in [[Springfield in Greene County in southwestern [[Missouri]].<ref>Information provided by Kaye Donham, Assistant Coordinator/Office Manager, Arkansas House of Representatives, 350 State Capitol Building, 500 Woodlane Avenue, Little Rock, AR 72201.</ref> He graduated in 1971 from [[Southern Methodist University]] near [[Dallas]], [[Texas]], with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. He was student president for the college of business.<ref name=keet>{{cite web|url=http://jimkeet4governor.com/node/1|title=About Jim Keet|publisher=jimkeet4governor.com|accessdate=May 12, 2010}}</ref>
Keet has been in the restaurant business for nearly five decades. In 1975, he joined Gerald Hamra to bring the first Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburger] to Arkansas. Thereafter, the company developed, owned, and operated twenty-seven Wendy's and Sisters' restaurants in Arkansas and Texas, with more than 1,. The company, though based in [[Birmingham]], [[Alabama]] has five locations in Little Rock and the former president and chief executive officer of Barnhill's Buffet. He and his wife, the former Margaret Osborn (born c. 1950), have four children and two grandchildren.<ref name=gop/>
==Political activities==
Keet was elected to the state House from District 58 in 1988. In 1990, he ran for the [[U.S. House of Representatives]] to succeed [[Tommy F. Robinson]], who ran for Governor, but he lost the general election to former [[U.S. Representative]] [[Ray Thornton]]. He made a comeback when he won his Senate position in 1992 from the newly organized District 15 in [[Pulaski County, Arkansas|Pulaski County]], having defeated the Democrat John Pagan in a tough campaign.<ref name=tolbert>{{cite web|url=http://arkansasnews.com/2010/03/07/the-audacity-of-jim-keet/|title=Jason Tolbert, "The Audacity of Jim Keet," March 7, 2010|publisher=arkansasnews.com|accessdate=May 12, 2010}}</ref>
As a legislator, Keet co-sponsored the "three-strikes-and-you're-out" violent offender law and worked to pass legislation to raise the state's literacy rate.<ref name=keet/>
In 1999, Keet was boating on Lake Hamilton south of [[Hot Springs, Arkansas|Hot Springs]], when an accident occurred that took the lives of eleven persons. Keet had four years earlier co-sponsored a bill that added several new water safety rules to the Arkansas code, including the requirement that children wear life preservers on most boats. However, the provision did not apply to duck boats, the kind involved in the tragedy, which sank within thirty seconds.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rbbi.com/folders/acc/arktour/arktour.htm
|title="12 {sic} dead in tourist boat accident at Hot Springs,"|date=May 2, 1999|publisher=''Northwest Arkansas Times'': rrbi.com|accessdate=May 12, 2010}}</ref>
Before entering the gubernatorial race, Keet had planned to seek the position of lieutenant governor, which incumbent Democrat Bill Halter vacated in his bid to unseat [[U.S. Senator]] [[Blanche Lincoln]]. Keet left his state House after fewer than two years of service to run unsuccessfully in 1990 against the Democrat [[Ray Thornton]] for the [[United States House of Representatives]] seat vacated by Democrat-turned-Republican [[Tommy F. Robinson]], who instead made an ill-fated gubernatorial bid, having lost the primary to [[Sheffield Nelson]], who in turn was defeated by [[Bill Clinton]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.arkansasgop.org/index.cfm?p=Blog&ContentRecord_id=21a73a10-f552-40b6-99ec-be342eaf514e&ContentType_id=f6f7c5c6-e3e7-4305-8eaa-a6a2dcf251a3&Group_id=04ed66ba-5652-49c7-9b1f-e77bde170609&MonthDisplay=4&YearDisplay=2010|title=Republican Jim Keet to Form Exploratory Committee for Lieutenant Governor Campaign|publisher=arkansasgop.org|accessdate=May 12, 2010}}</ref>
Prior to 2002, Keet managed the Little Rock office of then U.S. Senator [[Tim Hutchinson]], who was unseated that year by the Democrat [[Mark Pryor]], the son of former Senator and Governor [[David Pryor]]. Keet left Arkansas in 2002 to manage a troubled business, successfully turning around the failing company, but returned to Arkansas in 2008.<ref name=brummett>{{cite web|url=http://arkansasnews.com/2010/02/27/jim-keet-returns-for-governor/|author=John Brummett|title= "Jim Keet returns . . . for governor?"|date=February 27, 2010|publisher=arkansasnews.com|accessdate=May 12, 2010}}</ref>
==Gubernatorial race==
In his gubernatorial race, Ket emphasized creative methods to improve the state's business climate, to advance literary initiatives at all grade levels, and to reform the state tax structure to foster the creaton of new jobs. In his announcement of candidacy, Keet said that:
"Arkansans are sick and tired of the divisiveness and destructive rhetoric that we see on a national basis. I intend to bring a breath of fresh air to the campaign trail by discussing issues and differences of opinion constructively. I want to create a new day in Arkansas politics where everyday citizens are attracted to the political process rather than disgusted by it."<ref name=gop>{{cite web|url=http://www.arkansasgop.org/index.cfm?p=Blog&ContentRecord_id=21a73a10-f552-40b6-99ec-be342eaf514e&ContentType_id=f6f7c5c6-e3e7-4305-8eaa-a6a2dcf251a3&Group_id=04ed66ba-5652-49c7-9b1f-e77bde170609&MonthDisplay=4&YearDisplay=2010|title=Jim Keet Announces Candidacy for Arkansas Governor|date=February 26, 2010|publisher=arkansasgop.org|accessdate=May 12, 2010}}</ref>
Little Rock [[journalist]] John Brummett said that Keet's "gubernatorial candidacy would bring some business and political credibility. It would be about the best the Republicans could hope to wage. By prevailing legal opinion, Republicans need a candidate who gets more than 3 percent to remain automatically qualified for the [2012] ballot. Keet would beat that by quite a bit."<ref name=brummett/>
Political guru Jason Tolbert, in a column entitled "The Audacity of Jim Keet," asks what kind of campaign the former state senator will wage against Governor Beebe, whom Keet calls "a friend." Tolbert asks, "The question remains: What type of campaign strategy does Keet have the audacity to run? Will he play nice in a raise against a friend and save his biggest punches for Washington? Or, will he run hard at Beebe and try to take down his high approval numbers?"<ref name=tolbert/>
Keet was dogged by questions surrounding his residency and whether, having returned to Arkansas in 2009, he met the state constitutional requirement for governor of having "been for seven years a resident" of Arkansas.<ref>Article 6, Section 5, AR State Constitution. http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/assembly/Summary/ArkansasConstitution1874.pdf</ref> Keet registered to vote in Florida in 2003 and, as a legal resident of Gulf Breeze, voted in Florida elections. Despite widespread Republican success nationally and in other Arkansas races, Keet was defeated by Beebe in the general election by a margin of 65 to 33 percent, with the remaining 2% going to former State Representative Jim Lendall, who ran on the Green Party line. Beebe defeated Keet in all of Arkansas' seventy-five counties, making him the first governor to do so since David Pryor's margin of 84% in his 1976 re-election over Republican [[Leon Griffith]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Brantley |first=Max |url=http://www.arktimes.com/arkansas/keets-residency/Content?oid=1211370 |title=Keet's residency | Max Brantley | Arkansas news, politics, opinion, restaurants, music, movies and art |publisher=Arktimes.com |date= |accessdate=2010-08-29}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keet, Jim}}
[[Category:Arkansas]]
[[Category:Missouri]]
[[Category:Florida]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:State Senators]]
[[Category:State Representatives]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:United Methodists]]
|name=James Holland "Jim" Keet
|image=Jim Keet of AR.jpg
|office=[[Arkansas]] State Senator for District 15
|term_start=January 1993
|term_end=January 1997
|preceded=Constituency established
|succeeded=[[Jim Argue]]
|office 2=Arkansas State Representativ<br> for Distrct 58
|term_start2=January 1989
|term_end2=January 1991
|preceded2=Dana Moreland
|succeeded2=Paul Doramus
|birth_date=May 12, 1949
|birth_place=Springfield, [[Missouri]]
|death_date=
|death_place=
|party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]
|spouse=Margaret Osborn Keet
|children=James<br>Chase<br>Jake<br>Cassie
|alma_mater=Cox School of Business at<BR> [[Southern Methodist University]]
|religion=[[United Methodist]]
}}
'''James Holland Keet''', known as '''Jim Keet''' (born May 12, 1949), is a [[restaurant]] owner in [[Little Rock]], [[Arkansas]], a former state senator and state representative. He was the [[Republican Party|Republican]][nominee for [[governor]] of Arkansas in the [[general election]] held on November 2, 2010, but he lost his race to incumbent [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] [[Mike Beebe]].
==Background==
Keet was born in [[Springfield in Greene County in southwestern [[Missouri]].<ref>Information provided by Kaye Donham, Assistant Coordinator/Office Manager, Arkansas House of Representatives, 350 State Capitol Building, 500 Woodlane Avenue, Little Rock, AR 72201.</ref> He graduated in 1971 from [[Southern Methodist University]] near [[Dallas]], [[Texas]], with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. He was student president for the college of business.<ref name=keet>{{cite web|url=http://jimkeet4governor.com/node/1|title=About Jim Keet|publisher=jimkeet4governor.com|accessdate=May 12, 2010}}</ref>
Keet has been in the restaurant business for nearly five decades. In 1975, he joined Gerald Hamra to bring the first Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburger] to Arkansas. Thereafter, the company developed, owned, and operated twenty-seven Wendy's and Sisters' restaurants in Arkansas and Texas, with more than 1,. The company, though based in [[Birmingham]], [[Alabama]] has five locations in Little Rock and the former president and chief executive officer of Barnhill's Buffet. He and his wife, the former Margaret Osborn (born c. 1950), have four children and two grandchildren.<ref name=gop/>
==Political activities==
Keet was elected to the state House from District 58 in 1988. In 1990, he ran for the [[U.S. House of Representatives]] to succeed [[Tommy F. Robinson]], who ran for Governor, but he lost the general election to former [[U.S. Representative]] [[Ray Thornton]]. He made a comeback when he won his Senate position in 1992 from the newly organized District 15 in [[Pulaski County, Arkansas|Pulaski County]], having defeated the Democrat John Pagan in a tough campaign.<ref name=tolbert>{{cite web|url=http://arkansasnews.com/2010/03/07/the-audacity-of-jim-keet/|title=Jason Tolbert, "The Audacity of Jim Keet," March 7, 2010|publisher=arkansasnews.com|accessdate=May 12, 2010}}</ref>
As a legislator, Keet co-sponsored the "three-strikes-and-you're-out" violent offender law and worked to pass legislation to raise the state's literacy rate.<ref name=keet/>
In 1999, Keet was boating on Lake Hamilton south of [[Hot Springs, Arkansas|Hot Springs]], when an accident occurred that took the lives of eleven persons. Keet had four years earlier co-sponsored a bill that added several new water safety rules to the Arkansas code, including the requirement that children wear life preservers on most boats. However, the provision did not apply to duck boats, the kind involved in the tragedy, which sank within thirty seconds.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rbbi.com/folders/acc/arktour/arktour.htm
|title="12 {sic} dead in tourist boat accident at Hot Springs,"|date=May 2, 1999|publisher=''Northwest Arkansas Times'': rrbi.com|accessdate=May 12, 2010}}</ref>
Before entering the gubernatorial race, Keet had planned to seek the position of lieutenant governor, which incumbent Democrat Bill Halter vacated in his bid to unseat [[U.S. Senator]] [[Blanche Lincoln]]. Keet left his state House after fewer than two years of service to run unsuccessfully in 1990 against the Democrat [[Ray Thornton]] for the [[United States House of Representatives]] seat vacated by Democrat-turned-Republican [[Tommy F. Robinson]], who instead made an ill-fated gubernatorial bid, having lost the primary to [[Sheffield Nelson]], who in turn was defeated by [[Bill Clinton]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.arkansasgop.org/index.cfm?p=Blog&ContentRecord_id=21a73a10-f552-40b6-99ec-be342eaf514e&ContentType_id=f6f7c5c6-e3e7-4305-8eaa-a6a2dcf251a3&Group_id=04ed66ba-5652-49c7-9b1f-e77bde170609&MonthDisplay=4&YearDisplay=2010|title=Republican Jim Keet to Form Exploratory Committee for Lieutenant Governor Campaign|publisher=arkansasgop.org|accessdate=May 12, 2010}}</ref>
Prior to 2002, Keet managed the Little Rock office of then U.S. Senator [[Tim Hutchinson]], who was unseated that year by the Democrat [[Mark Pryor]], the son of former Senator and Governor [[David Pryor]]. Keet left Arkansas in 2002 to manage a troubled business, successfully turning around the failing company, but returned to Arkansas in 2008.<ref name=brummett>{{cite web|url=http://arkansasnews.com/2010/02/27/jim-keet-returns-for-governor/|author=John Brummett|title= "Jim Keet returns . . . for governor?"|date=February 27, 2010|publisher=arkansasnews.com|accessdate=May 12, 2010}}</ref>
==Gubernatorial race==
In his gubernatorial race, Ket emphasized creative methods to improve the state's business climate, to advance literary initiatives at all grade levels, and to reform the state tax structure to foster the creaton of new jobs. In his announcement of candidacy, Keet said that:
"Arkansans are sick and tired of the divisiveness and destructive rhetoric that we see on a national basis. I intend to bring a breath of fresh air to the campaign trail by discussing issues and differences of opinion constructively. I want to create a new day in Arkansas politics where everyday citizens are attracted to the political process rather than disgusted by it."<ref name=gop>{{cite web|url=http://www.arkansasgop.org/index.cfm?p=Blog&ContentRecord_id=21a73a10-f552-40b6-99ec-be342eaf514e&ContentType_id=f6f7c5c6-e3e7-4305-8eaa-a6a2dcf251a3&Group_id=04ed66ba-5652-49c7-9b1f-e77bde170609&MonthDisplay=4&YearDisplay=2010|title=Jim Keet Announces Candidacy for Arkansas Governor|date=February 26, 2010|publisher=arkansasgop.org|accessdate=May 12, 2010}}</ref>
Little Rock [[journalist]] John Brummett said that Keet's "gubernatorial candidacy would bring some business and political credibility. It would be about the best the Republicans could hope to wage. By prevailing legal opinion, Republicans need a candidate who gets more than 3 percent to remain automatically qualified for the [2012] ballot. Keet would beat that by quite a bit."<ref name=brummett/>
Political guru Jason Tolbert, in a column entitled "The Audacity of Jim Keet," asks what kind of campaign the former state senator will wage against Governor Beebe, whom Keet calls "a friend." Tolbert asks, "The question remains: What type of campaign strategy does Keet have the audacity to run? Will he play nice in a raise against a friend and save his biggest punches for Washington? Or, will he run hard at Beebe and try to take down his high approval numbers?"<ref name=tolbert/>
Keet was dogged by questions surrounding his residency and whether, having returned to Arkansas in 2009, he met the state constitutional requirement for governor of having "been for seven years a resident" of Arkansas.<ref>Article 6, Section 5, AR State Constitution. http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/assembly/Summary/ArkansasConstitution1874.pdf</ref> Keet registered to vote in Florida in 2003 and, as a legal resident of Gulf Breeze, voted in Florida elections. Despite widespread Republican success nationally and in other Arkansas races, Keet was defeated by Beebe in the general election by a margin of 65 to 33 percent, with the remaining 2% going to former State Representative Jim Lendall, who ran on the Green Party line. Beebe defeated Keet in all of Arkansas' seventy-five counties, making him the first governor to do so since David Pryor's margin of 84% in his 1976 re-election over Republican [[Leon Griffith]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Brantley |first=Max |url=http://www.arktimes.com/arkansas/keets-residency/Content?oid=1211370 |title=Keet's residency | Max Brantley | Arkansas news, politics, opinion, restaurants, music, movies and art |publisher=Arktimes.com |date= |accessdate=2010-08-29}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keet, Jim}}
[[Category:Arkansas]]
[[Category:Missouri]]
[[Category:Florida]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:State Senators]]
[[Category:State Representatives]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:United Methodists]]