Raising minimum wage may be more popular than its proponents

When an initiative to raise the minimum wage qualified for the Arkansas ballot, it was widely expected to be just the kind of bump Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor needed to win reelection.

Arkansas is a Southern red state, and tough terrain for Democrats these days. But boosting the hourly rate, from $6.25 to $8.50 over the next couple of years, could turn out voters who might favor Pryor, a high-profile proponent.

The proposed wage hike proved so popular that Pryor was no longer alone in supporting it. Even the conservative Republican challenger, Tom Cotton, said he would be voting for the initiative “as a citizen,” though in the Senate he would prefer measures to grow the economy with tax cuts and less regulation.

A Pew Research Center poll this summer found that most Americans support raising the $7.25 federal minimum to $10.10 as President Obama has proposed.

Four other states have wage measures on the ballot Tuesday, including Alaska, as do jurisdictions in Wisconsin and California, according to the National Employment Law Project.

Other Republicans have taken less favorable views toward mandatory wage hikes. Joni Ernst, the GOP candidate leading Democrat Bruce Braley for the open Senate seat in Iowa, has said she does not support a federal wage level, believing the issue should be left to the states.

While the minimum wage measure is on track for passage in Arkansas, Pryor’s future is less certain.

Arkansas is expected to join its Southern neighbors Tuesday in moving further away from its past as a Democratic stronghold and into the Republican column.

Whether Pryor can hold on will help determine how far that shift goes, and whether his party continues to control the Senate.

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