2022 Arkansas lieutenant gubernatorial election

2022 Arkansas lieutenant gubernatorial election

←  2018 November 8, 2022 2026  →

Nominee Leslie Rutledge Kelly Krout Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 577,312 288,631 Percentage 64.21% 32.10%

County results Congressional district results Rutledge:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Krout:     40–50%     50–60%

Lieutenant Governor before election Tim Griffin Republican Elected Lieutenant Governor Leslie Rutledge Republican

The 2022 Arkansas lieutenant gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the lieutenant governor of the state of Arkansas. The election coincided with various other federal and state elections, including for Governor of Arkansas. Primary elections were held on May 24. Arkansas is one of 21 states that elects its lieutenant governor separately from its governor.

Incumbent Republican lieutenant governor Tim Griffin was barred by the Constitution of Arkansas from running for a third term; he instead ran successfully for attorney general. Griffin was re-elected in 2018 with 64.2% of the vote.

Republican Attorney General Leslie Rutledge won the election, handily defeating her Democratic opponent Kelly Krout. She became the first woman elected lieutenant governor of Arkansas, coinciding with the election of Sarah Huckabee Sanders as the first woman elected governor of Arkansas. ^[1]

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Leslie Rutledge, Arkansas Attorney General ^[2]

Eliminated in primary

• Chris Bequette, lawyer and financial adviser ^[3]
• Greg Bledsoe, Arkansas Surgeon General ^[4]
• Jason Rapert, state senator ^[5]
• Doyle Webb, former chair of the Republican Party of Arkansas and former state senator ^[6]
• Joseph K. Wood, Washington County judge ^[7]

Endorsements

Leslie Rutledge

Newspapers and other media

• Arkansas Democrat-Gazette ^[8]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size [a]	Margin of error	Chris Bequette	Greg Bledsoe	Jason Rapert	Leslie Rutledge	Doyle Webb	Joseph Wood	Undecided
Hendrix College [9]	May 2, 2022	802 (LV)	± 4.3%	5%	9%	11%	40%	4%	7%	25%

Results

Republican primary results ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Leslie Rutledge	183,888	54.00
	Republican	Jason Rapert	50,063	14.70
	Republican	Greg Bledsoe	33,722	9.90
	Republican	Joesph Wood	29,277	8.60
	Republican	Doyle Webb	23,188	6.81
	Republican	Chris Bequette	20,411	5.99
Total votes			340,549	100.00

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Kelly Krout, graduate student and candidate for Arkansas House of Representatives in 2020 ^[11]

Withdrew

• Drew Pritt, small business owner (running for state house) ^{[12] [13]}

Endorsements

Kelly Krout

Organizations

• Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund ^[14]

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Frank Gilbert, former mayor of Tull and perennial candidate ^[15]

General election

Debate

2022 Arkansas lieutenant gubernatorial debate

No.	Date	Host	Moderator	Link	Democratic	Republican	Libertarian
Key:  P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited  W  Withdrawn
					Kelly Krout	Leslie Rutledge	Frank Gilbert
1	Oct. 18, 2022	Arkansas PBS	Steve Barnes	YouTube	P	P	P

Results

2022 Arkansas lieutenant gubernatorial election ^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Leslie Rutledge	577,316	64.21%	+0.03
	Democratic	Kelly Krout	288,631	32.10%	–0.93
	Libertarian	Frank Gilbert	33,163	3.69%	+0.90
Total votes			899,110	100.00%
	Republican hold

By county

County [16]	Leslie Rutledge Republican		Kelly Krout Democratic		Frank Gilbert Libertarian		Margin		Total
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Arkansas	3,291	73.89%	1,059	23.78%	104	2.33%	2,232	50.11%	4,454
Ashley	4,074	74.83%	1,240	22.78%	130	2.39%	2,834	52.06%	5,444
Baxter	11,914	76.77%	3,013	19.41%	592	3.81%	8,901	57.36%	15,519
Benton	56,549	62.45%	30,260	33.42%	3,737	4.13%	26,289	29.03%	90,546
Boone	10,022	79.21%	2,144	16.94%	487	3.85%	7,878	62.26%	12,653
Bradley	1,796	68.79%	741	28.38%	74	2.83%	1,055	40.41%	2,611
Calhoun	1,260	79.60%	289	18.26%	34	2.15%	971	61.34%	1,583
Carroll	5,782	64.27%	2,925	32.51%	290	3.22%	2,857	31.76%	8,997
Chicot	1,649	48.67%	1,685	49.73%	54	1.59%	-36	-1.06%	3,388
Clark	3,520	58.29%	2,326	38.52%	193	3.20%	1,194	19.77%	6,039
Clay	3,105	79.33%	690	17.63%	119	3.04%	2,415	61.70%	3,914
Cleburne	8,272	82.62%	1,436	14.34%	304	3.04%	6,836	68.28%	10,012
Cleveland	2,338	83.50%	398	14.21%	64	2.29%	1,940	69.29%	2,800
Columbia	4,070	67.41%	1,825	30.23%	143	2.37%	2,245	37.18%	6,038
Conway	4,486	66.93%	1,955	29.17%	262	3.91%	2,531	37.76%	6,703
Craighead	18,544	67.26%	8,001	29.02%	1,025	3.72%	10,543	38.24%	27,570
Crawford	13,266	76.96%	3,222	18.69%	750	4.35%	10,044	58.27%	17,238
Crittenden	5,305	49.93%	5,033	47.37%	286	2.69%	272	2.56%	10,624
Cross	3,712	75.46%	1,101	22.38%	106	2.15%	2,611	53.08%	4,919
Dallas	1,364	66.70%	619	30.27%	62	3.03%	745	36.43%	2,045
Desha	1,615	55.25%	1,196	40.92%	112	3.83%	419	14.33%	2,923
Drew	3,490	66.72%	1,593	30.45%	148	2.83%	1,897	36.26%	5,231
Faulkner	25,621	64.13%	12,627	31.61%	1,704	4.27%	12,994	32.52%	39,952
Franklin	4,071	77.06%	990	18.74%	222	4.20%	3,081	58.32%	5,283
Fulton	3,136	79.61%	680	17.26%	123	3.12%	2,456	62.35%	3,939
Garland	22,166	67.19%	9,542	28.92%	1,282	3.89%	12,624	38.27%	32,990
Grant	5,139	81.97%	922	14.71%	208	3.32%	4,217	67.27%	6,269
Greene	9,163	79.57%	1,972	17.13%	380	3.30%	7,191	62.45%	11,515
Hempstead	3,335	71.86%	1,215	26.18%	91	1.96%	2,120	45.68%	4,641
Hot Spring	7,356	74.42%	2,174	21.99%	355	3.59%	5,182	52.42%	9,885
Howard	2,608	72.06%	924	25.53%	87	2.40%	1,684	46.53%	3,619
Independence	8,346	79.27%	1,850	17.57%	332	3.15%	6,496	61.70%	10,528
Izard	3,691	80.78%	721	15.78%	157	3.44%	2,970	65.00%	4,569
Jackson	2,932	72.95%	977	24.31%	110	2.74%	1,955	48.64%	4,019
Jefferson	7,322	42.78%	9,409	54.97%	385	2.25%	-2,087	-12.19%	17,116
Johnson	5,133	73.61%	1,536	22.03%	304	4.36%	3,597	51.58%	6,973
Lafayette	1,294	65.92%	623	31.74%	46	2.34%	671	34.18%	1,963
Lawrence	3,629	79.92%	733	16.14%	179	3.94%	2,896	63.77%	4,541
Lee	952	47.94%	981	49.40%	53	2.67%	-29	-1.46%	1,986
Lincoln	2,042	74.53%	631	23.03%	67	2.45%	1,411	51.50%	2,740
Little River	2,895	76.39%	804	21.21%	91	2.40%	2,091	55.17%	3,790
Logan	4,891	78.58%	1,091	17.53%	242	3.89%	3,800	61.05%	6,224
Lonoke	16,634	74.62%	4,714	21.15%	944	4.23%	11,920	53.47%	22,292
Madison	4,274	75.54%	1,188	21.00%	196	3.46%	3,086	54.54%	5,658
Marion	4,739	79.42%	1,016	17.03%	212	3.55%	3,723	62.39%	5,967
Miller	8,474	75.64%	2,463	21.99%	266	2.37%	6,011	53.66%	11,203
Mississippi	5,251	62.13%	2,925	34.61%	275	3.25%	2,326	27.52%	8,451
Monroe	1,263	56.82%	918	41.30%	42	1.89%	345	15.52%	2,223
Montgomery	2,382	76.67%	557	17.93%	168	5.41%	1,825	58.74%	3,107
Nevada	1,697	69.21%	709	28.92%	46	1.88%	988	40.29%	2,452
Newton	2,447	80.26%	519	17.02%	83	2.72%	1,928	63.23%	3,049
Ouachita	4,143	59.27%	2,633	37.67%	214	3.06%	1,510	21.60%	6,990
Perry	2,893	76.45%	738	19.50%	153	4.04%	2,155	56.95%	3,784
Phillips	1,892	44.92%	2,207	52.40%	113	2.68%	-315	-7.48%	4,212
Pike	3,113	84.02%	490	13.23%	102	2.75%	2,623	70.80%	3,705
Poinsett	4,405	79.38%	1,004	18.09%	140	2.52%	3,401	61.29%	5,549
Polk	5,607	81.51%	982	14.28%	290	4.22%	4,625	67.23%	6,879
Pope	12,621	73.34%	3,967	23.05%	622	3.61%	8,654	50.28%	17,210
Prairie	2,176	82.18%	416	15.71%	56	2.11%	1,760	66.47%	2,648
Pulaski	49,726	40.36%	68,354	55.48%	5,135	4.17%	-18,628	-15.12%	123,215
Randolph	4,245	80.58%	836	15.87%	187	3.55%	3,409	64.71%	5,268
St. Francis	2,533	50.41%	2,370	47.16%	122	2.43%	163	3.24%	5,025
Saline	30,229	70.26%	11,038	25.66%	1,756	4.08%	19,191	44.61%	43,023
Scott	2,448	83.81%	360	12.32%	113	3.87%	2,088	71.48%	2,921
Searcy	2,566	81.88%	440	14.04%	128	4.08%	2,126	67.84%	3,134
Sebastian	23,023	67.44%	9,590	28.09%	1,526	4.47%	13,433	39.35%	34,139
Sevier	2,877	78.97%	649	17.81%	117	3.21%	2,228	61.16%	3,643
Sharp	4,888	81.18%	930	15.45%	203	3.37%	3,958	65.74%	6,021
Stone	3,919	77.31%	924	18.23%	226	4.46%	2,995	59.08%	5,069
Union	7,819	67.32%	3,495	30.09%	300	2.58%	4,324	37.23%	11,614
Van Buren	4,807	77.21%	1,164	18.70%	255	4.10%	3,643	58.51%	6,226
Washington	35,201	50.09%	32,497	46.24%	2,584	3.68%	2,704	3.85%	70,282
White	18,276	79.40%	3,856	16.75%	887	3.85%	14,420	62.64%	23,019
Woodruff	1,386	66.57%	653	31.36%	43	2.07%	733	35.21%	2,082
Yell	4,216	80.20%	876	16.66%	165	3.14%	3,340	63.53%	5,257
Totals	577,316	64.21%	288,631	32.10%	33,163	3.69%	288,685	32.11%	899,110

By congressional district

Rutledge won all four congressional districts. ^[17]

District	Rutledge	Krout	Representative
1st	71%	25%	Rick Crawford
2nd	57%	39%	French Hill
3rd	61%	35%	Steve Womack
4th	69%	28%	Bruce Westerman

See also

• 2022 Arkansas elections

Notes

1. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear

References

1. "AG Rutledge makes history as the first female elected lieutenant governor of Arkansas". KATV . Little Rock. November 8, 2022. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
2. "Leslie Rutledge drops bid for governor, enters race for lieutenant governor". November 9, 2021.
3. Zakrzewski, Katie (October 13, 2021). "Arkansas 2022 Election Preview". Arkansas Money & Politics. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
4. "Arkansas Surgeon General Greg Bledsoe running for Lt. Governor (UPDATED)". February 4, 2021.
5. "Sen. Jason Rapert says he's running for Arkansas lieutenant governor". August 2, 2019.
6. "Former GOP chair Doyle Webb jumps in Lt. Governor's race". May 4, 2021.
7. "Washington County Judge running for Arkansas lieutenant governor". May 17, 2021.
8. "Endorsements so far". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. May 15, 2022. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
9. Hendrix College
10. "May 24, 2022 Preferential Primary and Nonpartisan Judicial General Election". Arkansas Secretary of State. May 26, 2022. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
11. Thompson, Doug (September 9, 2021). "Krout, Lowell foster parent, announces bid for lieutenant governor". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette . Retrieved November 15, 2021.
12. "Pritt announces lieutenant governor bid". Log Cabin Democrat. July 10, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
13. Herzog, Rachel (January 23, 2022). "More candidates announce for Arkansas legislative seats as filing period nears". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
14. "2022 Endorsed Candidates". Everytown for Gun Safety . Retrieved June 23, 2022.
15. "Libertarians nominate more than 50, including Harrington for governor". Talk Business & Politics. February 21, 2022.
16. Jester, Cole (November 8, 2022). "2022 General Election - November 8, 2022". Secretary of State of Arkansas . Retrieved September 4, 2025.
17. https://arkansasresults.azurewebsites.us/Default.aspx?eid=3 ^{[ bare URL ]}

External links

Official campaign sites

• Frank Gilbert (L) for Lieutenant Governor
• Kelly Krout (D) for Lieutenant Governor
• Leslie Rutledge (R) for Lieutenant Governor