2022 Arkansas lieutenant gubernatorial election

2022 Arkansas lieutenant gubernatorial election

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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	577,312	64.21%	+0.03
	Democratic	Kelly Krout	288,631	32.10%	–0.93
	Libertarian	Frank Gilbert	33,163	3.69%	+0.90
Total votes			899,106	100.00%
	Republican hold

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. "R2022 General Election and Nonpartisan Judicial Runoff Election". November 8, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
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