Arkansas Dem. opposes Obama's minimum wage plan

As President Barack Obama tries to solidify support among Democrats in the Senate for raising the federal minimum wage, Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., says he cannot support the plan.

Pryor said in an interview at the Capitol, the jump to $10.10 an hour from $7.25 is too big for him to be comfortable.

Pryor, whose home state is headquarters of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT), has benefited politically from contributions by the National Retail Federation and the National Restaurant Association, groups lobbying against the measure.

The opposition to the plan marks the first Senate Democrat to run against the grain on the issue in a time when Republicans are trying to win six Senate seats in states where the president lost to Mitt Romney. The Republican candidate for president bested Obama in the Natural State by 24 percentage points in 2012, according to Bloomberg.

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