Republican Party of Arkansas

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Republican Party of Arkansas
AbbreviationRPA
Chairman Joseph K. Wood
Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders
Lieutenant Governor Leslie Rutledge
Senate President pro tempore Bart Hester
House Speaker Matthew Shepherd
FoundedApril 2, 1867
(156 years ago)
 (1867-04-02)
Headquarters1201 West 6th Street, Little Rock, Arkansas
Membership (June 2021)117,277 [1]
Ideology Conservatism
Fiscal conservatism
Social conservatism
National affiliation Republican Party
State House
82 / 100
State Senate
29 / 35
Statewide Executive Offices
7 / 7
U.S. House of Representatives
4 / 4
U.S. Senate
2 / 2
Election symbol
Republican Disc.svg
Website
arkansasgop.org

The Republican Party of Arkansas (RPA), headquartered at 1201 West 6th Street in downtown Little Rock, is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Arkansas. It is currently the dominant party in the state, controlling all four of Arkansas' U.S. House seats, both U.S. Senate seats, all statewide executive offices, including the governorship, and supermajorities in both houses of the state legislature.

Contents

The Republican Party of Arkansas was founded on April 2, 1867, by "the leading Union men" of Arkansas. [2] Under Powell Clayton, it played a preeminent role in politics at the height of Reconstruction in the state (1864–1874). [3] The party chairman is Joseph K. Wood.

History

Powell Clayton, 9th Governor of Arkansas (1868-1871) and the first Republican to hold the office Powell Clayton.jpg
Powell Clayton, 9th Governor of Arkansas (1868–1871) and the first Republican to hold the office

The Republican Party, also referred to as the GOP (Grand Old Party), is the second oldest currently existing political party in the United States after its older rival, the Democratic Party. Both parties exist in all fifty states. Historically, prior to the late 20th century, the Republican Party was much weaker than the Democratic Party in the former states of the old Confederacy, including Arkansas.

The Arkansas party did not hire its first paid executive director until 1970, when businessman Neal Sox Johnson, then of Nashville, Arkansas, assumed the position in the last year of Winthrop Rockefeller's second term as governor of Arkansas. Johnson held the position until early in 1973, when he left Arkansas to take a position with the former Farmers Home Administration in Washington. [4]

Between 2010 and 2014, similar to what took place in neighboring Oklahoma, Arkansas Republicans won all four U.S. House seats, both U.S. Senate seats, all of the statewide offices, and supermajority control of both chambers of the General Assembly.

Associated groups

There are six groups and these groups are: Arkansas Diversity Alliances Coalition, African American Coalition of Arkansas, Arkansas African American Trailblazers, Arkansas Federation of College Republicans, Arkansas Federation of Young Republicans, Arkansas Federation of Republican Women, and the Arkansas Federation of Teenage Republicans. The Tusk Club is another arm of the Arkansas Republican Party.

Republican governors

As of 2023, there have been a total of eight Republican governors.

#GovernorPhotoCountyStart dateEnd dateTime in office
9 Powell Clayton (1833–1914) Powell Clayton.jpg Jefferson July 2, 1868March 17, 1871 [lower-alpha 1] 2 years, 258 days
Ozra Amander Hadley (1826–1915) O. A. Hadley (Arkansas Governor) 2.jpg Pulaski March 17, 1871January 6, 18731 year, 295 days [lower-alpha 2]
10 Elisha Baxter (1827–1899) Elisha Baxter.png Independence January 6, 1873November 12, 18741 year, 310 days
37 Winthrop Rockefeller (1912–1973) Winthrop Rockefeller Razorback 1969 (cropped).jpg Conway January 10, 1967January 12, 19714 years, 2 days
41 Frank D. White (1933–2003) Frank D. White 1995 (cropped).jpg Pulaski January 19, 1981January 11, 19831 year, 357 days
44 Mike Huckabee (born 1955) Mike Huckabee, August 2002 (cropped).jpg Hempstead July 15, 1996January 9, 200710 years, 359 days
46 Asa Hutchinson (born 1950) Asa Hutchinson 2019.jpg Benton January 13, 2015January 10, 20237 years, 362 days
47 Sarah Huckabee Sanders (born 1982) Hempstead January 10, 2023Incumbent351 days

Current elected officials

The Arkansas Republican Party controls all of the state's seven statewide offices. Republicans also hold both of the state's U.S. Senate seats and all four of the state's U.S. House seats.

Members of Congress

U.S. Senate

Republicans have controlled both of Arkansas's seats in the U.S. Senate since 2015:

U.S. House of Representatives

Out of the four seats Arkansas is apportioned in the U.S. House of Representatives, all four are held by Republicans:

DistrictMemberPhoto
1st Rick Crawford
Rick Crawford 115th Congress (cropped).jpg
2nd French Hill
Rep. French Hill official photo.jpg
3rd Steve Womack
Steve Womack 2018.jpg
4th Bruce Westerman
Bruce Westerman, 115th official photo (cropped).jpg

Statewide offices

Republicans control all seven of the elected statewide constitutional offices:

State legislative leaders

List of chairmen

This is a list of chairmen of the Republican Party of Arkansas: [5]

See also

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References

Notes

  1. Resigned.
  2. President of the Senate acting as Governor.

    Citations

    1. "VR Statistics Report for June 2021" (PDF). Retrieved June 9, 2021.
    2. Clayton, Powell (1915). The Aftermath of the Civil War, in Arkansas. New York: The Neale Publishing Company. pp. 35–37. LCCN   15004463. OCLC   3508506. OL   6574262M via Internet Archive.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
    3. Barth, Jay (September 19, 2017). "Republican Party". Encyclopedia of Arkansas . Little Rock, Arkansas: CALS. 594. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
    4. Arkansas Outlook, Arkansas Republican Party newsletter, February 1973
    5. Coon, Ken, Dr. Heroes and Heroines of the Journey: The Builders of the Modern Republican Party of Arkansas. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

    34°44′41.1″N92°17′04.7″W / 34.744750°N 92.284639°W / 34.744750; -92.284639