2026 Arkansas gubernatorial election

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2026 Arkansas gubernatorial election
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November 3, 2026
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  Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (cropped 3x4).jpg Rep Fredrick J Love (cropped).jpg
Candidate Sarah Huckabee Sanders Fredrick Love
Party Republican Democratic
Incumbent Governor

Sarah Huckabee Sanders
Republican



The 2026 Arkansas gubernatorial election will take place on November 3, 2026, to elect the governor of Arkansas. The primary elections took place on March 3, 2026, and in races where no candidate receives over 50% in a primary, runoff elections will take place on March 31, 2026. [1] Incumbent Republican governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders is seeking re-election to a second term. [2]

Contents

This election will take place alongside races for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, state senate, state house, and numerous other state and local offices.

Background

Arkansas has transformed into a deeply red state in the 21st century, with Republicans winning Arkansas in every presidential election since 2000 and occupying all of its statewide offices, including the governorship, since 2015. The party also hold supermajorities in both houses of the Arkansas General Assembly and its entire congressional delegation. The most recent Democratic governor of Arkansas is Mike Beebe, who was comfortably elected in 2006 and 2010. In 2022, Sanders was elected governor of Arkansas by a margin of 27.7%, becoming the first woman to hold the position. [3]

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Endorsements

Sarah Huckabee Sanders
Executive branch officials
Organizations

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

  • Supha Xayprasith-Mays, businesswoman and candidate for governor in 2022 [7]

Results

Results by county .mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{} Love 60-70% 70-80% 80-90% 90-100% 2026 Arkansas gubernatorial Democratic primary election results map by county.svg
Results by county
  Love
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  •   80–90%
  •   90–100%
Democratic primary results [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Fredrick Love 104,522 81.03%
Democratic Supha Xayprasith-Mays24,46818.97%
Total votes128,990 100.00%
Results by county [8]
CountyLoveXayprasith-MaysMarginTotal
Arkansas 35590.10%398.90%31681.20%394
Ashley 29769.39%13130.61%16638.78%428
Baxter 40675.89%12924.11%27751.78%535
Benton 7,40874.24%2,57125.76%4,83748.48%9,979
Boone 32569.89%14030.11%18539.78%465
Bradley 19973.16%7326.84%12646.32%272
Calhoun 7967.52%3832.48%4135.04%117
Carroll 59470.30%25129.70%34340.60%845
Chicot 1,08876.19%34023.81%74852.38%1,428
Clark 83484.50%15315.50%68169.00%987
Clay 9084.91%1615.09%7469.82%106
Cleburne 43382.48%9217.52%34164.96%525
Cleveland 5772.15%2227.85%3544.30%79
Columbia 54687.78%7612.22%47076.56%622
Conway 67981.12%15818.88%52162.24%837
Craighead 2,22277.64%64022.36%1,58255.28%2,862
Crawford 80176.50%24623.50%55553.00%1,047
Crittenden 1,86483.51%36816.49%1,49667.02%2,232
Cross 24480.53%5919.47%18561.06%303
Dallas 8573.28%3126.72%5446.56%116
Desha 1,03978.47%28521.53%75456.97%1,324
Drew 46274.52%15825.48%30449.04%620
Faulkner 4,28681.04%1,00318.96%3,28362.08%5,289
Franklin 29280.89%6919.11%22361.78%361
Fulton 11973.46%4326.54%7646.92%162
Garland 2,83376.51%87023.49%1,96353.02%3,703
Grant 24783.16%5016.84%19766.32%297
Greene 54779.51%14120.49%40659.02%688
Hempstead 37489.26%4510.74%32978.52%419
Hot Spring 66979.36%17420.64%49558.72%843
Howard 26881.46%6118.54%20762.92%329
Independence 51879.69%13220.31%38659.38%650
Izard 18576.13%5823.87%12752.26%243
Jackson 23475.97%7424.03%16051.94%308
Jefferson 5,58680.22%1,37719.78%4,20960.44%6,963
Johnson 29276.24%9123.76%20152.48%383
Lafayette 20981.01%4918.99%16062.02%258
Lawrence 22286.38%3513.62%18772.76%257
Lee 1,57786.55%24213.45%1,33573.10%1,799
Lincoln 12873.14%4726.86%8146.28%175
Little River 17571.72%6928.28%10643.44%244
Logan 23977.60%6922.40%17055.20%308
Lonoke 1,27180.04%31719.96%95460.08%1,588
Madison 16579.71%4220.29%12359.42%207
Marion 27975.00%9325.00%18650.00%372
Miller 78579.70%20020.30%58559.40%985
Mississippi 51480.44%12519.56%38960.88%639
Monroe 31184.05%5915.95%25268.10%370
Montgomery 6068.18%2831.82%3236.36%88
Nevada 28081.16%6518.84%21562.32%345
Newton 11980.95%2819.05%9161.90%147
Ouachita 72879.30%19020.70%53858.60%918
Perry 22586.54%3513.46%19073.08%260
Phillips 1,94383.53%38316.47%1,56067.06%2,326
Pike 13885.71%2314.29%11571.42%161
Poinsett 18983.63%3716.37%15267.26%226
Polk 18573.12%6826.88%11746.24%253
Pope 92675.04%30824.96%61850.08%1,234
Prairie 5180.95%1219.05%3961.90%63
Pulaski 33,80784.08%6,40015.92%27,40768.16%40,207
Randolph 22983.27%4616.73%18366.54%275
Saline 3,92482.59%82717.41%3,09765.18%4,751
Scott 5473.97%1926.03%3547.94%73
Searcy 8381.37%1918.63%6462.74%102
Sebastian 2,47273.77%87926.23%1,59347.54%3,351
Sevier 2877.78%822.22%2055.56%36
Sharp 21773.81%7726.19%14047.62%294
St. Francis 77087.20%11312.80%65774.40%883
Stone 15775.12%5224.88%10550.24%209
Union 92880.14%23019.86%69860.28%1,158
Van Buren 27078.95%7221.05%19857.90%342
Washington 12,85982.95%2,64317.05%10,21665.90%15,502
White 1,09180.28%26819.72%82360.56%1,359
Woodruff 20885.25%3614.75%17270.50%244
Yell 16976.82%5123.18%11853.64%220
Totals104,52281.03%24,46818.97%80,05462.06%128,990

Third-party and independent candidates

Candidates

Declared

General election

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
The Cook Political Report [10] Solid RSeptember 11, 2025
Inside Elections [11] Solid RAugust 28, 2025
Sabato's Crystal Ball [12] Safe RSeptember 4, 2025
Race to the WH [13] Safe RSeptember 16, 2025

Results

2026 Arkansas gubernatorial election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Republican Sarah Huckabee Sanders (incumbent)
Democratic Fredrick Love
Libertarian Colt Shelby
Total votes

See also

References

  1. ↑ "2026 State Primary Election Dates". NCSL. May 9, 2025. Retrieved August 5, 2025.
  2. 1 2 Barrow, Bill (July 18, 2024). "Project 2028: GOP officials jockey during Republican National Convention for future White House runs". Associated Press. Archived from the original on August 3, 2024. Retrieved August 3, 2024. [Sarah Huckabee Sanders] was focused only on Trump's election and then her own reelection in 2026
  3. ↑ Leip, David. "2022 Gubernatorial General Election Results – Arkansas". www.uselectionatlas.org. Archived from the original on July 16, 2024. Retrieved February 10, 2025.
  4. ↑ Nitzberg, Alex (November 3, 2025). "Trump backs Huckabee Sanders and a bunch of House Republicans for re-election with midterms on the horizon". Fox News . Retrieved November 3, 2025.
  5. ↑ Biddison, Jennifer (December 3, 2025). "Maggie's List Endorses Eight More Candidates". Maggie's List. Retrieved December 4, 2025.
  6. ↑ Brock, Roby (June 23, 2025). "Democratic State Sen. Fred Love announces for Arkansas Governor". Talk Business & Politics. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  7. ↑ Wickline, Michael R. (October 28, 2025). "Bentonville businesswoman running again for governor". Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette . Retrieved November 3, 2025.
  8. 1 2 "2026 Special Primary Election". Arkansas Secretary of State . Retrieved March 8, 2026.
  9. ↑ Brock, Roby (February 22, 2026). "Arkansas Libertarians nominate candidates for 2026". Talk Business & Politics. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  10. ↑ "2026 CPR Governor Race ratings". Cook Political Report. Retrieved January 23, 2025.
  11. ↑ "Gubernatorial Ratings". Inside Elections . Retrieved February 7, 2025.
  12. ↑ "2026 Governor". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved May 1, 2025.
  13. ↑ "Governor Forecast - 2026-2026". Race to the WH. Retrieved June 30, 2025.
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