Republican Party of Arkansas

Arkansas affiliate of the Republican Party

Republican Party of Arkansas

Abbreviation| RPA
Chairman| Joseph K. Wood
Governor| Sarah Huckabee Sanders
Lieutenant Governor| Leslie Rutledge
Senate President pro tempore| Bart Hester
House Speaker| Matthew Shepherd
Founded| April 2, 1867
(157 years ago) (1867-04-02)
Headquarters| 1201 West 6th Street, Little Rock, Arkansas
Membership (June 2021)| 117,277[1]
Ideology| 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
Website
arkansasgop.org

* Politics of Arkansas
* Elections

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.

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

# | Governor  | Photo  | County  | Start date  | End date  | Time in office

|
|
|
|
|
|

9  | Powell Clayton (1833–1914)  |  | Jefferson | July 2, 1868  | March 17, 1871[a] | 2 years, 258 days
— | Ozra Amander Hadley (1826–1915)  |  | Pulaski | March 17, 1871  | January 6, 1873  | 1 year, 295 days[b]
10  | Elisha Baxter (1827–1899)  |  | Independence | January 6, 1873  | November 12, 1874  | 1 year, 310 days
37  | Winthrop Rockefeller (1912–1973)  |  | Conway | January 10, 1967  | January 12, 1971  | 4 years, 2 days
41  | Frank D. White (1933–2003)  |  | Pulaski | January 19, 1981  | January 11, 1983  | 1 year, 357 days
44  | Mike Huckabee (born 1955)  |  | Hempstead | July 15, 1996  | January 9, 2007  | 10 years, 359 days
46  | Asa Hutchinson (born 1950)  |  | Benton | January 13, 2015  | January 10, 2023  | 7 years, 362 days
47  | Sarah Huckabee Sanders (born 1982)  |  | Hempstead | January 10, 2023  | Incumbent  | 1 year, 271 days

## Current elected officials

[edit]

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

[edit]

#### U.S. Senate

[edit]

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

* Junior U.S. Senator Tom Cotton

* Senior U.S. Senator John Boozman

#### U.S. House of Representatives

[edit]

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

District  | Member  | Photo

|
|

1st | Rick Crawford |
2nd | French Hill |
3rd | Steve Womack |
4th | Bruce Westerman |

### Statewide offices

[edit]

Republicans control all seven of the elected statewide constitutional offices:

* Lieutenant Governor Leslie Rutledge

* Attorney General Tim Griffin

* Secretary of State: John Thurston
* State Auditor: Dennis Milligan
* State Treasurer: Larry Walther
* Commissioner of State Lands: Tommy Land

### State legislative leaders

[edit]

* Senate President Pro Tempore: Bart Hester
* Senate Majority Leader: Blake Johnson
* Speaker of the House: Matthew Shepherd
* Speaker Pro Tempore: Jon Eubanks
* House Majority Leader: Marcus Richmond

## List of chairmen

[edit]

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

* 1932–1955: Osro Cobb
* 1955–1962: Ben C. Henley
* 1962–1964: William L. Spicer
* 1964–1966: John P. Hammerschmidt
* 1966–1970: Odell Pollard
* 1970–1972: Charles T. Bernard
* 1972–1974: Jim Caldwell
* 1974–1980: A. Lynn Lowe
* 1980: Jeraldine D. Pruden (interim)
* 1980–1982: Harlan Holleman
* 1982: Bob Cohee (interim)
* 1982–1983: Morris S. Arnold
* 1983–1984: Bob Leslie
* 1984–1985: William Kelly
* 1985: Sharon Trusty (interim)
* 1985–1986: Len E. Blaylock
* 1986–1988: Ed Bethune
* 1988–1990: Dr. Ken Coon (Also serving as Executive Director)
* 1991–1992: Asa Hutchinson (co-chairman)
* 1991–1992: Sheffield Nelson (co-chairman)
* 1992–1995: Asa Hutchinson
* 1995–2002: Lloyd Vance Stone Jr.
* 2002–2003: John P. Hammerschmidt
* 2003–2004: Winthrop P. Rockefeller
* 2004–2007: Gilbert Baker
* 2007–2008: Dennis Milligan
* 2008–2020: Doyle Webb
* 2020–2022: Jonelle Fulmer
* 2022–2023: Cody Hiland
* 2023: John Parke
* 2023-Current: Joseph K. Wood

## Electoral history

[edit]

### Gubernatorial

[edit]

Arkansas Republican Party gubernatorial election results  Election  | Gubernatorial candidate  | Votes  | Vote %  | Result

|
|
|
|

1994 | Sheffield Nelson | 287,904  | 40.16%  | Lost N
1998 | Mike Huckabee | 421,989  | 59.77%  | Won Y
2002 | Mike Huckabee | 427,082  | 53.02%  | Won Y
2006 | Asa Hutchinson | 315,040  | 40.67%  | Lost N
2010 | Jim Keet | 262,784  | 33.63%  | Lost N
2014 | Asa Hutchinson | 470,429  | 55.44%  | Won Y
2018 | Asa Hutchinson | 582,406  | 65.33%  | Won Y
2022 | Sarah Huckabee Sanders | 571,105  | 62.96%  | Won Y

## See also

[edit]

* Democratic Party of Arkansas
* Political party strength in Arkansas

## References

[edit]

### Notes

[edit]

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

### Citations

[edit]

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. 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.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Arkansas Republican Party.

* Official website
* Republican Party of Arkansas at Ballotpedia

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