Icon of civil rights visits state: Rep. Lewis campaigns for Democrat, urges people to vote

Longtime civil rights icon and U.S. Congressman John Lewis of Georgia beseeched Arkansans on Sunday to vote this fall -- and, specifically, to vote for congressional candidate Clarke Tucker.

"We've come a long way; the state has made tremendous progress," said Lewis, his voice rising in a packed auditorium at Philander Smith College in Little Rock. "There are forces in Washington and other parts of America that want to take us back. We've come too far, made too much progress, and we're not going back."

Tucker, a Democrat, will face incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. French Hill and Libertarian candidate Joe Swafford in the Nov. 6 election for Arkansas' 2nd Congressional District seat.

Lewis, whose record in civil rights advocacy includes being arrested more than 40 times during peaceful voting-rights protests in the 1960s and speaking alongside the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at the March on Washington in 1963, implored the crowd not only to vote, but to encourage others to vote as well.

Read more: http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2018/aug/20/icon-of-civil-rights-visits-state-20180/