DELAY CHALLENGES MCDANIEL'S INVOLVEMENT WITH METH BILL

LITTLE ROCK -- Republican attorney general candidate Gunner DeLay
accused Democratic opponent Dustin McDaniel on Wednesday of making
false statements about his support for 2005 legislation to reduce
mandatory sentences for methamphetamine offenders. McDaniel denied
that he lied.

Also Wednesday, the Democratic Party of Arkansas linked DeLay, a
former state senator, to a company accused of Medicaid fraud. DeLay
noted the same firm had contributed to McDaniel's campaign for the
state Legislature.

DeLay, a Fort Smith lawyer, faces McDaniel, a first-term state House
member, in the Nov. 7 general election.

At a Capitol news conference Wednesday, DeLay showed a video of
McDaniel speaking on the House floor in support of Senate Bill 387
- -- now Act 1034 of 2005 -- which made convicted meth manufacturers
eligible for parole after serving 50 percent of their mandatory
prison sentence, down from 70 percent under the previous law.

In the video, McDaniel said the bill was a "common sense
re-evaluation of our sentencing laws" and said he was not supporting
the bill because of prison overcrowding, one of the primary
arguments supporters made for the bill.

DeLay also showed a videotaped segment of an interview McDaniel had
with Little Rock business reporter Roby Brock in September in which
McDaniel said he voted for the bill because several groups told him
it would free up more prison space for violent criminals but denied
speaking for the measure before the House.

"I didn't speak for the bill," McDaniel said in the interview. "I
didn't advocate for the bill, but I did vote for it."

DeLay called the discrepancies "blatant dishonesty" by McDaniel.

"Mr. McDaniel had no qualms about looking this reporter in the eye
and making a totally false statement," DeLay said Wednesday.

In an e-mail, McDaniel said the difference was a memory lapse.

"I don't remember speaking for Act 1034, but obviously I did,"
McDaniel said. "I'm sorry that what I told Roby was wrong. That
doesn't change the fact that Gunner knows what he's saying is wrong."

McDaniel's campaign manager, Melissa Moody, said the law gave
prosecutors discretion to handle cases on a case-by-case basis, not
reduce sentences.

Meanwhile Wednesday, the state Democratic Party accused DeLay of
unethical behavior in contracting as a lobbyist with Medical
Transportation Management, a Missouri medical transportation service
investigated for billing Medicaid for services not rendered.

The company paid a $2 million settlement in Missouri and did not
seek payment for $17.5 million in Medicaid claims in 2005, the party
said in a release.

DeLay acknowledged he provided legal advice to the company over a
six-month period in 2003 and 2004 as a registered lobbyist. DeLay
also noted McDaniel had ties to the company, accepting a $250
campaign contribution during his 2004 legislative campaign.

McDaniel confirmed the contribution but said he knew nothing about
the company and was not paid to work for it.

Clint Reed, executive director of the Republican Party of Arkansas,
said McDaniel "is losing credibility daily" because of his
statements on the drug law. He also called it "hypocrisy" for
McDaniel to attack DeLay for working for the transportation company
when McDaniel took campaign contributions from the firm, although
he did not mention the Democratic Party's comments.