Political party strength in Arkansas

The following table indicates the party of elected officials in the U.S. state of Arkansas:

• Governor
• Lieutenant Governor
• Secretary of State
• Attorney General
• State Auditor
• State Treasurer
• State Land Commissioner

The table also indicates the historical party composition in the:

• State Senate
• State House of Representatives
• State delegation to the United States Senate
• State delegation to the United States House of Representatives

For years in which a United States presidential election was held, the table indicates which party's nominees received the state's electoral votes.

Pre-statehood (1819–1836)

Year	Executive offices			General Assembly		U.S. Congress
	Governor	Sec. of Terr.	Treasurer	Senate	House	Delegate
1819	Robert Crittenden (DR) [a]	Robert Crittenden (DR)	James Scull	[ ? ]	[ ? ]	James Woodson Bates (I)
	James Miller (I) [b] [c]
1820
1821
1822
1823						Henry W. Conway (DR)
1824
	Robert Crittenden (DR) [d]
1825
	George Izard (DR) [e]
1826
1827						Ambrose H. Sevier (J)
1828
	vacant [f]
1829		[ ? ]
	John Pope (J)
...
1832
1833			Samuel Morton Rutherford
1834
1835
	William S. Fulton (J)
1836

1836–1874

Year	Executive offices						General Assembly		United States Congress			Electoral votes
	Governor	Lt. Governor	Sec. of State	Attorney General	Auditor	Treasurer	State Senate	State House	U.S. Senator (Class II)	U.S. Senator (Class III)	U.S. House
1836	James Sevier Conway (D)	no such office	Robert A. Watkins	no such office	Elias Nelson Conway (D)	W. E. Woodruff	12D, 5W	35D, 18W, 1?	William S. Fulton (J)	Ambrose H. Sevier (J)	Archibald Yell (J)	Van Buren/ Johnson (D)Y
1837									William S. Fulton (D)	Ambrose H. Sevier (D)	Archibald Yell (D)
1838						John Hutt
1839							D majority	D majority			Edward Cross (D)
1840												Van Buren (D)N
1841	Archibald Yell (D) [g]		D. B. Greer		A. Boileau		16D, 5W	42D, 22W
					Elias N. Conway (D)
1842			John Winfrey
1843			D. B. Greer	Robert Ward Johnson (D)		J. C. Martin	15D, 6W	45D, 20W, 1?
1844									Chester Ashley (D)			Polk/ Dallas (D)Y
	Samuel Adams (D) [h]
1845	Thomas S. Drew (D) [i]					Samuel Adams (D)	21D, 4W	62D, 13W			Archibald Yell (D)
1846
1847							22D, 3W	52D, 23W			Thomas W. Newton (W)
											Robert Ward Johnson (D)
1848				George C. Watkins					William K. Sebastian (D)	Solon Borland (D)		Cass/ Butler (D)N
1849					C. C. Danley	William Adams [1]	20D, 5W	56D, 19W
	Richard C. Byrd (D) [j]					John H. Crease
	John Selden Roane (D) [k]
1850
1851				John J. Clendenin			21D, 4W	50D, 25W
1852												Pierce/ King (D)Y
1853	Elias N. Conway (D)						19D, 6W	48D, 27W		vacant	2D
										Robert Ward Johnson (D)
1854
1855					A. S. Huey	A. H. Rutherford (D)	17D, 8W	57D, 15W, 3I
1856				Thomas Johnson								Buchanan/ Breckinridge (D)Y
1857					William R. Miller (D)	John H. Crease	21D, 2KN, 1AW, 1W	65D, 9KN, 1W
1858				J. L. Hollowell
1859			Alexander Boileau			John Quindley	20D, 2KN, 1OSD, 1SR, 1W	D majority
1860			S. W. Weaver		H. C. Lowe	Jared C. Martin						Breckinridge/ Lane (SD)N
			John I. Stirman
1861	Henry Massey Rector (ID) [l]			P. Jordan		Oliver Basham	D majority			Charles B. Mitchel (D)
					William R. Miller (D)				Civil War and Reconstruction
1862			O. H. Oates	Sam W. Williams
1863	Harris Flanagin (I) [m] [n]						American Civil War
1864			Robert J. T. White (I)	C. T. Jordan
	Isaac Murphy (I)	Calvin C. Bliss (I)			J. R. Berry (I)	E. D. Ayers						no electoral votes
1865				R. S. Gantt
1866				R. H. Deadman	William R. Miller (D)	L. B. Cunningham	25NP	75NP
1867						Henry Page	25D	56D, 19R
1868		James M. Johnson (R) [o]		J. R. Montgomery	J. R. Berry (R)
	Powell Clayton (R) [p]								Alexander McDonald (R)	Benjamin F. Rice (R)	3R	Grant/ Colfax (R)Y
1869							21R, 1D, 4?	79R, 1D, 2?			2R, 1D
1870
1871							18R, 8D	44R, 29D, 9LR
	Ozra A. Hadley (R) [q]	vacant	James M. Johnson (R)						Powell Clayton (R)
1872												Grant/ Wilson (R)Y
1873	Elisha Baxter (R) [r] [s]	Volney V. Smith (R)		Thomas D. W. Yonley (R)	Stephen Wheeler (R)		20R, 5D	52R, 27D, 3?		Stephen W. Dorsey (R)	3R
1874				J. L. Witherspoon		R. E. Newton
Year	Governor	Lieutenant Governor	Sec. of State	Attorney General	Auditor	Treasurer	State Senate	State House	U.S. Senator (Class II)	U.S. Senator (Class III)	U.S. House	Electoral votes
	Executive offices						General Assembly		United States Congress

1874–1926

Year	Executive offices						General Assembly		United States Congress			Electoral votes
	Governor	Sec. of State	Attorney General	Auditor	Treasurer	Land Comm.	State Senate	State House	U.S. Senator (Class II)	U.S. Senator (Class III)	U.S. House
1874	Augustus H. Garland (D)	Benton B. Beavers (D)	Simon P. Hughes Jr. (D)	William R. Miller (D)	Thomas J. Churchill (D)	J. N. Smithee (D)	D majority [t]	D majority [t]	Powell Clayton (R)	Stephen W. Dorsey (R)	2R, 1D
1875							29D, 2R	82D, 11R			4D
1876												Tilden/ Hendricks (D)N
1877	William R. Miller (D)		W. F. Henderson	John Crawford (D)			29D, 2R	75D, 17R, 1OLW	Augustus H. Garland (D)
1878
1879		Jacob Frolich (D)				D. W. Lear (D)	29D, 1R, 1GL	83D, 6GL, 3R, 1?		James D. Walker (D)
1880												Hancock/ English (D)N
1881	Thomas J. Churchill (D)		Charles B. Moore		W. E. Woodruff Jr.		30D, 1GL	80D, 10R, 1GL
1882
1883	James H. Berry (D)			A. W. Files (D) [2]		William P. Campbell (D)	28D, 2GL, 1R	87D, 2GL, 2IR, 1R, 1ID
1884						Paul M. Cobbs (D)						Cleveland/ Hendricks (D)Y
1885	Simon P. Hughes Jr. (D)	Elias B. Moore (D)	D. W. Jones				31D, 1R	80D, 15R	James H. Berry (D)	James K. Jones (D)	5D
1886
1887				William R. Miller (D)			30D, 2R	73D, 14R, 4I, 3AW, 1G
				W. S. Dunlop (D)
1888												Cleveland/ Thurman (D)N
1889	James Philip Eagle (D)	B. B. Chism (D)	W. E. Atkinson					69D, 15UL, 11R
1890						C. B. Meyers (D)					4D, 1L
1891					R. B. Morrow		29D, 2UL, 1R	81D, 10R, 4UL			5D
1892												Cleveland/ Stevenson (D)Y
1893	William M. Fishback (D)	H. B. Armistead (D)	James P. Clarke (D)	C. B. Mills (D)			29D, 2Pop, 1R	85D, 9Pop, 6R			6D
1894
1895	James P. Clarke (D)		E. B. Kinsworthy		Ransom Gulley	J. F. Ritchie (D)	31D, 1R	88D, 9Pop, 3R
1896												5 – Bryan/ Sewall (D)N 3 – Bryan/ Watson (Pop)N
1897	Daniel Webster Jones (D)	Alexander C. Hull (D)		Clay Sloan (D)			30D, 1R, 1Pop	85D, 13Pop, 2R
1898
1899			Jeff Davis (D)		T. E. Little	J. W. Colquitt (D)	32D	98D, 2R
1900												Bryan/ Stevenson (D)N
1901	Jeff Davis (D)	J. W. Crockett (D)	George W. Murphy (D)	T. C. Monroe (D)	H. C. Tipton			97D, 2R, 1Pop
1902
1903						F. E. Conway (D)	35D	100D		James P. Clarke (D)	7D
1904												Parker/ Davis (D)N
1905		O. C. Ludwig (D)	Robert L. Rogers	Avery E. Moore (D)			34D, 1R	95D, 5R
1906
1907	Bass Little (D) [u]		William F. Kirby (D)		James L. Yates	Lafayette L. Coffman (D)		96D, 4R	Jeff Davis (D)
	John Isaac Moore (D) [v]
	X. O. Pindall (D) [w]
1908												Bryan/ Kern (D)N
1909	Jesse M. Martin (D) [x]		Hal L. Norwood	John R. Jobe (D)			35D	97D, 3R
	George W. Donaghey (D)
1910
1911		Earle W. Hodges (D)			John Crockett	Reuben G. Dye (D)	34D, 1R	95D, 5R
1912				John M. Oathout (D)								Wilson/ Marshall (D)Y
1913	Joe T. Robinson (D) [p]		William L. Moose	L. L. Coffman (D)			33D, 1R, 1Prog	96D, 4R	John N. Heiskell (D)
									William M. Kavanaugh (D)
	William K. Oldham (D) [v]								Joe T. Robinson (D)
	J. Marion Futrell (D) [j]
	George W. Hays (D) [y]
1914
1915			Wallace Davis	M. F. Dickinson	R. G. McDaniel	William B. Owen (D)	35D	97D, 3R
1916
1917	Charles H. Brough (D)	Tom Terral (D)	John D. Arbuckle	Hogan Oliver (D)			34D, 1I			William F. Kirby (D)
1918
1919					Joe Ferguson		35D	95D, 5R
1920												Cox/ Roosevelt (D)N
1921	Thomas C. McRae (D)	Ira C. Hopper (D)	J. S. Utley	James Guy Tucker (D)		Herbert R. Wilson (D)		96D, 4R		Thaddeus H. Caraway (D)
1922
1923
1924												Davis/ Bryan (D)N
1925	Tom Terral (D)	Jim B. Higgins (D)	W. H. Applegate	J. Carrol Cone (D)	Sam Sloan			97D, 3R
1926					Dwight Blackwood (D)

1927–present

Year	Executive offices							General Assembly		United States Congress			Electoral votes
	Governor	Lieutenant Governor	Sec. of State	Attorney General	Auditor	Treasurer	Land Comm.	State Senate	State House	U.S. Senator (Class II)	U.S. Senator (Class III)	U.S. House
1927	John E. Martineau (D) [z]	Harvey Parnell (D)	Jim B. Higgins (D)	W. H. Applegate	J. Carrol Cone (D)	Ralph Koonce	Dwight Blackwood (D)	35D	96D, 4R	Joe T. Robinson (D)	Thaddeus Caraway (D)	7D
1928													Smith/ Robinson (D)N
	Harvey Parnell (D) [aa]	Lee Cazort (D)
1929				Hal L. Norwood	J. Oscar Humphrey (D)		Belva Martin (D)		98D, 2R
1930
1931		Lawrence E. Wilson (D)	Ed F. McDonald (D)			Roy V. Leonard			99D, 1R
1932											Hattie Caraway (D)		Roosevelt/ Garner (D)Y
1933	J. Marion Futrell (D)	Lee Cazort (D)					George W. Neal (D)		100D
1934				Walter L. Pope
1935				Carl E. Bailey (D)	Charles E. Parker (D)	Earl Page (D)
1936
1937	Carl E. Bailey (D)	Robert L. Bailey (D)	Crip Hall (D)	Jack Holt (D)	J. Oscar Humphrey (D)		Otis Page (D)		98D, 2R
										vacant
1938										John E. Miller (D)
1939
1940													Roosevelt/ Wallace (D)Y
1941	Homer M. Adkins (D)									Lloyd Spencer (D)
1942
1943		James L. Shaver (D)		Guy E. Williams (D)			Bish Bentley (D)			John L. McClellan (D) [e]
1944							Claude Rankin (D)						Roosevelt/ Truman (D)Y
1945	Ben Laney (D)					Vance Clayton (D)					J. William Fulbright (D)
1946
1947		Nathan G. Gordon (D)							96D, 3R, 1I
1948													Truman/ Barkley (D)Y
1949	Sid McMath (D)			Ike Murray (D)					98D, 2R
1950
1951
1952													Stevenson/ Sparkman (D)N
1953	Francis Cherry (D)			Tom Gentry (D)					97D, 3R			6D
1954
1955	Orval Faubus (D)						James H. Jones (D)
1956					F. Nolan Humphrey (D)								Stevenson/ Kefauver (D)N
1957				Bruce Bennett (D)	James H. Jones (D) [ab]		Sam Jones (D)		98D, 2R
1958
1959									100D
1960													Kennedy/ Johnson (D)Y
1961			Nancy Hall (D)	J. Frank Holt (D)		Lee A. Clayton (D)			99D, 1R
1962				Jack Holt Jr. (D)
1963			Kelly Bryant (D) [e]	Bruce Bennett (D)		Nancy Hall (D)			99D, 1I			4D
1964													Johnson/ Humphrey (D)Y
1965									99D, 1R
1966
1967	Winthrop Rockefeller (R)	Maurice Britt (R)		Joe Purcell (D)					97D, 3R			3D, 1R
1968													Wallace/ LeMay (AI)N
1969								34D, 1R	96D, 4R
1970
1971	Dale Bumpers (D) [p]	Bob C. Riley (D)		Ray Thornton (D)					98D, 2R
1972													Nixon/ Agnew (R)Y
1973				Jim Guy Tucker (D)					99D, 1R
1974
1975	Bob C. Riley (D) [ac]	vacant							97D, 3R		Dale Bumpers (D)
	David Pryor (D) [p]	Joe Purcell (D)	George Jernigan (D)
1976													Carter/ Mondale (D)Y
1977			Winston Bryant (D)	Bill Clinton (D) [ad]					96D, 4R
1978										Kaneaster Hodges (D)
1979	Joe Purcell (D) [ac]	vacant	Paul Riviere (D)	Steve Clark (D)				35D	94D, 6R	David Pryor (D)		2D, 2R
	Bill Clinton (D)	Joe Purcell (D)			Jimmie Lou Fisher (D) [ab]
1980													Reagan/ Bush (R)Y
1981	Frank D. White (R)	Winston Bryant (D)			Julia Hughes Jones (D)	Jimmie Lou Fisher (D)	Bill McCuen (D)	34D, 1R	93D, 7R
1982
1983	Bill Clinton (D) [ae] [af]							32D, 3R
1984
1985			Bill McCuen (D)				Charlie Daniels (D)		91D, 9R			3D, 1R
1986
1987								31D, 4R
1988													Bush/ Quayle (R)Y
1989									88D, 12R
												2D, 2R
1990
				Ron Fields (D)
1991		Jim Guy Tucker (D)		Mary Stallcup (D)					91D, 9R			3D, 1R
				Winston Bryant (D)
1992	Jim Guy Tucker (D) [aa] [ag]	Mike Huckabee (R)											Clinton/ Gore (D)Y
1993					Gus Wingfield (D)				89D, 11R			2D, 2R
1994
1995			Sharon Priest (D)					30D, 5R	88D, 12R
1996
	Mike Huckabee (R) [aa]	Win Rockefeller (R) [ah]
1997									87D, 13R	Tim Hutchinson (R)
1998
1999				Mark Pryor (D)					76D, 24R		Blanche Lincoln (D)
2000													Bush/ Cheney (R)Y
2001								27D, 8R	72D, 28R			3D, 1R
2002
2003			Charlie Daniels (D)	Mike Beebe (D)	Jim Wood (D)	Gus Wingfield (D)	Mark Wilcox (D)		70D, 30R	Mark Pryor (D)
2004
2005									72D, 28R
2006
2007	Mike Beebe (D)	Bill Halter (D)		Dustin McDaniel (D)		Martha Shoffner (D)
2008													McCain/ Palin (R)N
2009									71D, 28R, 1G
2010									72D, 28R [ai]
2011		Mark Darr (R) [aj]	Mark Martin (R)		Charlie Daniels (D)		John Thurston (R)	20D, 15R	55D, 45R		John Boozman (R)	3R, 1D
2012									54D, 46R [ak]				Romney/ Ryan (R)N
2013								21R, 14D	51R, 48D, 1G			4R
						Charles Robinson (D) [4]
2014		vacant						22R, 13D
2015	Asa Hutchinson (R)	Tim Griffin (R)		Leslie Rutledge (R)	Andrea Lea (R)	Dennis Milligan (R)		24R, 11D	64R, 36D	Tom Cotton (R)
2016									64R, 35D, 1I [al]				Trump/ Pence (R)Y
2017								26R, 9D	76R, 24D [am]
2018
2019			John Thurston (R)				Tommy Land (R)
2020													Trump/ Pence (R)N
2021								28R, 7D	78R, 22D
2022
2023	Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R)	Leslie Rutledge (R)		Tim Griffin (R)	Dennis Milligan (R)	Mark Lowery (R) [e]		29R, 6D	82R, 18D
						Larry Walther (R) [ab]
2024													Trump/ Vance (R)Y
2025			Cole Jester (R) [ab]			John Thurston (R)			81R, 19D

Key to party colors and abbreviations for members of the U.S. Congress and other politicians or officials

Alaskan Independence (AKIP) Know Nothing (KN) American Labor (AL) Anti-Jacksonian (Anti-J) National Republican (NR) Anti-Administration (AA) Anti-Masonic (Anti-M) Conservative (Con) Covenant (Cov)

Democratic (D) Democratic–Farmer–Labor (DFL) Democratic–NPL (D-NPL) Dixiecrat (Dix), States' Rights (SR) Democratic-Republican (DR) Farmer–Labor (FL) Federalist (F) Pro-Administration (PA)

Free Soil (FS) Fusion (Fus) Greenback (GB) Independence (IPM) Independent Democrat (ID) Independent Republican (IR) Jacksonian (J) Liberal (Lib)

Libertarian (L) National Union (NU) Nonpartisan League (NPL) Nullifier (N) Opposition Northern (O) Opposition Southern (O) Populist (Pop) Progressive (Prog)

Prohibition (Proh) Readjuster (Rea) Republican (R) Silver (Sv) Silver Republican (SvR) Socialist (Soc) Union (U) Unconditional Union (UU)

Vermont Progressive (VP) Whig (W) Independent (I) Nonpartisan (NP)

1. Acting territorial governor. As secretary of Arkansas Territory from 1819 to 1829, Crittenden served as acting governor whenever the appointed governor was not in the state. This meant he was in fact the first person to be governor of the territory, since James Miller did not arrive in the territory until nine months after his appointment.
2. President James Monroe appointed Miller territorial governor on March 3, 1819, the same date the bill organizing Arkansaw Territory was signed. However, to avoid the hot southern summer, he delayed his departure from New Hampshire until September and took a non-direct route, finally arriving in the territory on December 26, 1819.
3. Resigned citing poor health. At the time of his resignation, he had been absent from the territory for 18 months.
4. Territorial Governor George Izard did not arrive in Arkansas Territory until May 31, 1825; Crittenden, Secretary of the territory, acted as governor in his stead, though Crittenden himself was out of the territory when Izard arrived.
5. Died in office.
6. The office was vacant from November 22, 1828, until March 9, 1829. By the time notice of Izard's death reached Washington, D.C., Andrew Jackson had been elected president, and the U.S. Senate refused to approve Adams' choice for governor, preferring to wait until Jackson took office.
7. Resigned to run for the United States House of Representatives, winning the election.
8. As president of the Senate, acted as governor for unexpired term.
9. Resigned due to the low salary he received as governor.
10. As president of the state Senate, acted as governor until special election.
11. Elected in a special election to fill unexpired term.
12. The 1861 constitution was enacted during Rector's term; while term lengths remained at four years, a new election schedule was created, calling for elections in 1862, two years into his term.
13. Flanagin fled Little Rock as it fell to Union forces on September 10, 1863, leading a largely inept government in exile in Washington, Arkansas, until 1865. Isaac Murphy was elected provisional governor by a loyalist government set up after Union control of the state was established, taking office on April 18, 1864, causing a slight overlap in terms, though due to the collapse of the Confederate effort in Arkansas, Flanagin had no authority over the state.
14. The 1864 constitution was enacted during Flanagin's term; however, it was drafted by the Union occupation and had no effect on his government. While term lengths remained at four years, a new election schedule was created, calling for elections in 1864.
15. Resigned to take office as state secretary of state.
16. Resigned to take an elected seat in the United States Senate.
17. As president pro tempore of the state Senate, acted as governor for unexpired term; the office of lieutenant governor at the time was vacant.
18. Removed from office for a short time due to the Brooks–Baxter War.
19. The 1874 state constitution, enacted during Baxter's term, shortened his tenure to two years as new elections were scheduled.
20. More than a dozen Republicans resigned to take jobs in the Baxter administration. Democrats won a majority in the special elections that followed.
21. Resigned after suffering a nervous breakdown soon after taking office.
22. As president of the state Senate, acted as governor until the legislature adjourned.
23. As the new president pro tempore of the state Senate, became acting governor until his senate term expired.
24. As the new president pro tempore of the state Senate, became acting governor for three days until the next elected governor took office.
25. Elected in special election to fill unexpired term.
26. Resigned to become a judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.
27. As lieutenant governor, acted as governor for unexpired term and was subsequently elected in his own right.
28. Appointed by governor to fill vacancy.
29. As lieutenant governor, acted as governor for unexpired term.
30. Resigned after being elected governor in 1978.
31. Gubernatorial terms changed from two years to four years during Clinton's term; he was elected for two-year terms in 1982 and 1984, and for four-year terms in 1986 and 1990.
32. Resigned to become president of the United States.
33. Resigned after being convicted of mail fraud in the Whitewater scandal.
34. First elected in special election following Huckabee's elevation to governorship.
35. Richard Carroll switched parties from Green to Democratic.
36. Resigned February 1, 2014 after being fined for ethics violations. ^[3]
37. Linda Collins switched parties from Democratic to Republican.
38. Rep. Nate Bell left the Republican Party to sit as an Independent in June 2015. ^[5] Mike Holcomb (District 10) changed parties from Democratic to Republican in August 2015. ^[6]
39. Reps. Joe Jett, Jeff Wardlaw, and David Hillman all switched parties from Democratic to Republican before the 2017 legislative session. ^[7]

See also

• Law and government in Arkansas

Notes

1. Rolfe, Maro O. (1904). "Chapter 3: Arkansas in Ante-Bellum Days". In Jones, Daniel Webster (ed.). The Province and the States. Vol. III. Madison, Wisconsin: Western Historical Association. p. 317. William Adams was state treasurer January 2, 1849, to January 10, 1849
2. "Former State Auditor Dead". The Prescott daily news. Prescott, Ark. March 24, 1913. p. 1. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
3. Staff, Arkansas Times (2014-02-06). "It was a bad week for Mark Darr (again)". Arkansas Times. Retrieved 2021-06-20.
4. Waldon, George (2013-05-29). "Mike Beebe Names Charles Robinson State Treasurer". Arkansas Business. Retrieved 2013-06-15.
5. Lyon, John (2015-06-03). "Nate Bell Drops GOP Affiliation; Now Independent". Arkansas News Bureau. Archived from the original on 2015-07-08 – via Times Record .
6. "Rep. Mike Holcomb Switches Parties". Talk Business & Politics. 2015-08-20. Retrieved 2021-06-20.
7. "Rep. Jett switches to GOP; Arkansas Democrats lose lone committee majority". Talk Business & Politics. KATV. 2016-12-09. Retrieved 2021-06-20.