LITTLE ROCK—National Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean said Thursday he hoped the Arkansas party chairman who was gunned down in his office would be memorialized in some way when delegates gather later this month in Denver for the Democratic convention.
Dean credited Bill Gwatney for his fundraising prowess at the helm of the state Democratic Party, and said Gwatney was responsible for two of the biggest fundraisers in state party history.
Gwatney died Wednesday after a gunman burst into the state headquarters in Little Rock and shot him. The suspect, Timothy Dale Johnson of Searcy, was fatally wounded when he confronted police after a 30-mile chase. Police so far say they have not found a link between Johnson and Gwatney.
Dean said any tribute or memorial at the National Convention would depend on the wishes of Gwatney’s family and the state’s delegation. He said he wasn’t sure what form it might take.
“I think everyone is in such shock now that we haven’t gotten around to that,” Dean told The Associated Press in an interview.
Because of his position in the state party, Gwatney was a superdelegate to the Democratic National Convention. He declared his support for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for president after the Arkansas primary in February but endorsed Barack Obama after Clinton dropped out of the race.
Dean said the two Jefferson-Jackson dinners—the annual major fundraiser for the party—that were held under Gwatney’s watch were the largest in state party history. He also said Gwatney helped strengthen the party finances.
A former state senator and car dealer, Gwatney was Gov. Mike Beebe’s finance chairman in the 2006 governor’s election and was selected in March 2007 as the party’s new chairman. Dean credited Gwatney’s work on Beebe’s fundraising as key in a Democratic sweep of constitutional offices in 2006.
“What that meant was the lead of the ticket, the governor, was very well equipped to take on the race in 2006 and that really began the process of winning back those state offices,” Dean said.
