Associated Press - July 14, 2009 8:44 PM ET
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - A Republican lawmaker running for the U.S. Senate in Arkansas on Tuesday referred to a federal judge as "this new minority judge," a comment he said was meant as a compliment.
State Senator Kim Hendren of Gravette made the comment about U.S. District Judge Brian Miller as he discussed the state's involvement in desegregation cases involving two districts in Pulaski County. Miller, who is black, is handling the case involving the North Little Rock and Pulaski County school districts.
Hendren is 1 of 3 candidates who have announced bids for the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln.
He later told reporters that he referred to Miller as a minority because of NAACP complaints earlier this year when Lincoln and Sen. Mark Pryor offered no black candidates for three open federal judgeships in Arkansas. Hendren said he viewed Miller as an example of a qualified minority judge.
"What that pointed out to me is there was at least one with Judge Miller that fits the bill for me as far as being a minority fit to be considered as a federal judge," Hendren told reporters after the meeting.
In 2008, Miller filled a position left empty by the death of Judge George Howard Jr., the state's first black federal judge.
Earlier this year, Hendren apologized for referring to U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer's religion during a public appearance, but stopped short of admitting that he referred to the New York Democrat as "that Jew," as one conservative blogger reported.
Tuesday's comment was the latest controversial remark from Hendren. Last month, Hendren said the constitutional amendment requiring U.S. senators to be elected by popular vote should be revisited because he thinks it forces candidates to pay too much attention to fundraising.
Hendren also has faced skepticism within the Republican Party for supporting two major tax increases: a 56-cents-a-pack hike in the state's cigarette tax that was approved in the Legislature this year and an increase in the state's severance tax on natural gas that lawmakers backed last year to pay for road improvements.
Other Republicans who have announced Senate bids include businessmen Fred Ramey of Searcy and Tom Cox of Little Rock. Several other Republicans have said they're considering joining the primary contest.
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