Arkansas News Bureau

LITTLE ROCK — Republican businessman Jim Keet said today he is “90 percent certain” he will run for governor.

Keet, a former state senator and unsuccessful candidate for Congress in 1990, said he has been looking at re-entering politics as a possible GOP candidate for lieutenant governor but has been encouraged by Republican supporters to run for governor.

“At first I kind of took that as a compliment, but the more I thought about it, I started thinking there is some merit to that,” Keet told Arkansas News Bureau columnist Roby Brock.

Keet and Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe served together in the Senate during the 1990s and are personal friends. Keet said on many issues, Beebe has done a good job as the state’s chief executive.

“It isn’t about Mike Beebe,” he said. “It’s about the process of bringing a different perspective to the legislative process and the executive branch of the state.

“One of the most important aspects of politics is that you need to have a forum for discussing new ideas. If we don’t have candidates that are willing to stand up despite the odds in both parties, then we’ll never have the best possible government. Its good to have competing views and candidates on both sides of the aisle.”

Keet, who ran a company in Florida before returning to Arkansas last year, said his background as a successful real estate and restaurant entrepreneur, and the national political climate, sparked his new interest in politics.

He said his campaign would focus on growing jobs, improving education and reforming the state’s tax structure.

Zac Wright, senior campaign advisor for Beebe, said the governor wants to build on his work over the past four years.

“Mike Beebe has a positive vision for Arkansas, for jobs, for world-class schools and for sensible budgeting in state government,” Wright said. “He is running … to continue his work to make that vision real for all our people, regardless of who else is in the race.”