More than 15 percent of Arkansas residents are 65 years old and older, according to Census data, and the state ranks 40th for long-term services and support systems that help older people, adults with disabilities and family caregivers, an AARP study found.
“As governor, I will stand up for our seniors and my door will always be open to groups like the AARP,” Ross said in a statement from his campaign. “We must work in a bipartisan way to improve the quality of life for Arkansas’ aging population as quickly and as comprehensively as possible, and I’m committed to doing so as our next governor.”
A spokesman for Asa Hutchinson, Ross’s Republican opponent and also a former congressman, dismissed the “senior bill of rights. “There is very little new here and it is more generalities and vague promises,” spokesman Christian Olson said in an e-mail. A July poll found Hutchinson leads Ross 46-41.