GOP Candidate Affirms Antigay, 'Christian Values' in Newspaper Ad

A Republican state representative candidate in Arkansas took an antigay, pro-life stance, citing her “Christian values” in an advertisement published last week in The Yell County Record.

In the ad, candidate Mary Bentley attacks Democrats for their stances on same-sex marriage and abortion.

“Do you support Gay marriage and abortion?” reads the nearly 200-word ad, which a reader sent to the Arkansas Times. “The democrat party does.”

The ad criticizes President Barack Obama’s opposition to the Defense of Marriage Act as well as a recent appointee to Arkansas’s school board, Jay Barth, whom the ad characterizes as “a liberal political science professor from Hendrix who happens to be a homosexual activist and married to another man.”

Bentley then sums up her support for the Republican Party in religious terms: “I am a republican because they represent my Christian values, faith in God and what the Bible teaches about life and marriage.”

She also posted a similar statement on her campaign website.

Bentley is running for the District 73 House seat against Democratic candidate Rep. John Catlett, who was first elected to the House District 61 in 2010.