United States House of Representatives elections in Arkansas, 2012

Elections in Arkansas

The 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Arkansas occurred on Tuesday, November 6, 2012 to elect the four U.S. Representatives from the state, one from each of the state's four congressional districts. The elections coincided with the elections of other federal and state offices, including a quadrennial presidential election.

As the result of redistricting following the 2010 United States Census, the boundaries of the state's congressional districts have been redrawn. Governor Mike Beebe, who signed the new map into law in April 2011, described it as the "status quo"[1] and not partisan.[2] In the new map, five counties are split between districts, the first time in Arkansas history that counties have not been kept intact in congressional districts.[1]

Overview

The table below shows the total number and percentage of votes, as well as the number of seats gained and lost by each political party in the election for the United States House of Representatives in Arkansas.

United States House of Representatives elections in Arkansas, 2012[3]
Party Votes Percentage Seats +/–
Republican 637,591 61.4% 4 +1
Democratic 304,770 29.4% 0 -1
Green 57,706 5.6% 0 -
Libertarian 37,987 3.7% 0 -
Totals 1,038,054 100% 4 —

District 1

The 1st district had lost population,[4] and so was drawn in the new map to incorporate counties in southeastern Arkansas which were previously a part of the 4th district.[1] Republican incumbent Rick Crawford was first elected in 2010.

State representative Clark Hall,[5] and Gary Latanich, an economics professor at Arkansas State University,[6] will seek the Democratic nomination to challenge Crawford. Other potential Democratic candidates include L. J. Bryant, the unsuccessful 2010 Democratic nominee for Arkansas Land Commissioner;[7] David Cook, a former state representative and unsuccessful candidate in the 2010 Democratic primary in the 1st district;[7] prosecuting attorney Scott Ellington;[8] state representative Keith Ingram;[9] Robert S. Moore, the speaker of the state House of Representatives;[7][9] and businessman Steve Rockwell, who considered running in the 1st district in 2010.[7][8] Paul Bookout, the president pro tempore of the Arkansas Senate;[10] Chad Causey, the former chief of staff to U.S. Representative Marion Berry and unsuccessful 2010 nominee in the 1st district;[11] and state senator Robert F. Thompson[10] will not run. Jacob Holloway, a graduate student at ASU, is the declared Green Party candidate. Jessica Paxton, wife of Libertarian Party of Arkansas chairman Rodger Paxton, has been nominated as the Libertarian candidate.

Primary polling
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size		 Margin of
error		 Scott
Ellington		 Clark
Hall		 Gary
Latanich		 Undecided
Talk Business/Hendrix College April 24–25, 2012 497 ± 4.4% 15% 10% 3.5% 71.5%
External links
Election results, Arkansas 1st District, November 6, 2012[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Rick Crawford (incumbent) 138,800 56.23
Democratic Scott Ellington 96,601 39.13
Libertarian Jessica Paxton 6,427 2.60
Green Jacob Holloway 5,015 2.03
Total votes 246,843 100
Republican hold

District 2

Population growth in Arkansas's central counties meant that the 2nd district had to shrink in the new map.[4] Under the new map, the 2nd district is likely to continue to favor Republicans.[1]

Republican incumbent Timothy Griffin was first elected in 2010.

Potential Democratic candidates include attorney Bob Edwards, who considered running in the 2nd district in 2010;[7] Bill Halter, the former Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas who unsuccessfully ran in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate in 2010;[7][9] Pat Hays, the mayor of North Little Rock;[7][13] state senator David Johnson;[7] Jay Martin, a lawyer and former state representative;[14] state representative Tracy Steele;[7] and Robbie Wills, the former speaker of the state House of Representatives and unsuccessful candidate in the 2010 Democratic primary for the 2nd district.[7] David Boling, the former chief of staff to U.S. Representative Vic Snyder and unsuccessful candidate in the 2010 Democratic primary in the 2nd district;[15] state representative John Charles Edwards[16] and Drew Pritt[17] will not run.

Chris Hayes ran as the Libertarian Party nominee.

Election results, Arkansas 2nd District, November 6, 2012[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Tim Griffin (incumbent) 158,175 55.19
Democratic Herb Rule 113,156 39.48
Libertarian Chris Hayes 6,701 2.34
Green Barbara Ward 8,566 2.99
Total votes 286,598 100
Republican hold
External links

District 3

Population growth in Arkansas's northwestern counties meant that the 3rd district had to shrink in the new map.[4] Under the new map, the 3rd district is likely to continue to favor Republicans.[4]

Republican incumbent Steve Womack was first elected in 2010.

Rebekah Kennedy is the nominee of the Arkansas Green Party for the Third District.[18] Kennedy was the Green Party nominee in the 2008 U.S. Senate election in Arkansas, achieving 20.47% of the vote against incumbent Mark Pryor. In 2010, Ms Kennedy ran for state Attorney General, receiving 26.79% of the vote against incumbent Dustin McDaniel. On August 14, 2012, Kennedy received the endorsement of the Arkansas state AFL-CIO labor union.[19]

David Pangrac, the Libertarian Party of Arkansas Vice Chairman, is running under his party's nomination.

Ken Aden, the former director for West Memphis-based nonprofit Residents 4 Arkansas, sought the Democratic nomination.[20] Aden subsequently withdrew from the race after admitting to exaggerating his military record. Under Arkansas law, the Democratic Party is unable to field a replacement candidate for Aden and no Democrat will appear on the November ballot.[21]

Election results, Arkansas 3rd District, November 6, 2012[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Steve Womack (incumbent) 186,467 75.90
Green Rebekah Kennedy 39,318 16.01
Libertarian David Pangrac 19,875 8.09
Total votes 245,660 100
Republican hold
External links

District 4

Under the new map, the 4th district loses some territory in the east of the state to the 1st district and gains some Republican-leaning northwestern Arkansas counties from the 3rd district.[1][7] The district also gains Yell County from the 2nd district, which is expected to make the 4th district more favorable to Democrats.[7]

Democratic incumbent Mike Ross, who was first elected in 2000, chose not to seek re-election.[22] Q. Byrum Hurst, an attorney and small business owner;[23] state senator Gene Jeffress;[24] and D.C. Morrison, who unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 2010,[25] will seek the Democratic nomination. Robin Carroll, a prosecutor and former legal counsel to the Democratic Party;[26] former state senator Steve Faris;[26] Conner Eldridge, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas;[22][26][27] Greg Hale, a consultant for The Markham Group;[25] state senator Steve Harrelson;[26] Mike Hathorn, a former state representative and candidate for lieutenant governor;[27] Carlton Jones, a prosecutor from Texarkana;[22] Chris Masingill, head of the Delta Regional Authority and a former staff member for Ross and Governor Mike Beebe;[26] state representative Gregg Reep;[26] state senator Larry Teague, the incoming president of the state senate;[22][26][27] and state legislator Hank Wilkins[26] may also run for the Democratic nomination. State representative Bruce Maloch;[26] Chris Thomason, the chancellor of the University of Arkansas Community College at Hope and a former state representative;[15] and Jeff Weaver, Ross' district director,[28] will not run.

Tom Cotton, a consultant and Army reservist;[22] John Cowart, a police officer currently serving with the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve as lieutenant colonel in Afghanistan;[29] Beth Anne Rankin, who unsuccessfully challenged Ross in 2010;[24] and Marcus Richmond, a business owner and retired lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps[24] ran for the Republican nomination. Cotton won the nomination and then won the general election. Bobby Tullis, a former Democratic state representative and unsuccessful Green Party nominee for state treasurer in 2010, had considered seeking Libertarian nomination for the seat;[30] however in December 2011 Tullis gave his support to Republican candidate Beth Anne Rankin;[28] nevertheless, he has been nominated as the Libertarian candidate.

Primary polling
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size		 Margin of
error		 Q. Byrum
Hurst		 Gene
Jeffress		 D.C.
Morrison		 Undecided
Talk Business/Hendrix College May 10, 2012 418 ± 4.8% 23% 22% 11% 44%
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size		 Margin of
error		 Tom
Cotton		 John
Cowart		 Beth Anne
Rankin		 Undecided
Talk Business/Hendrix College May 10, 2012 437 ± 4.7% 51% 6% 33% 10%
Talk Business/Hendrix College April 17, 2012 542 ± 4.2% 38.5% 4% 38.5% 19%
Election results, Arkansas 4th District, November 6, 2012[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Tom Cotton 154,149 59.53
Democratic Gene Jeffess 95,013 36.69
Libertarian Bobby Tullis 4,984 1.92
Green J. Joshua Drake 4,807 1.86
Total votes 258,953 100
Republican gain from Democratic Swing {{{swing}}}
External links

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 DeMillo, Andrew (April 14, 2011). "Beebe signs Ark. redistricting plan into law". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
  2. ↑ MacNeil, Kelly (April 14, 2011). "Beebe Says Redistricting Map Isn't Partisan". KUAR. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
  3. ↑ "New York Times Election Results 2012". The New York Times.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Barnes, Steve (April 15, 2011). "Steve Barnes: Congressional redistricting brings state something new". The Baxter Bulletin. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Rep. Clark Hall to enter first district congressional race". Talk Business & Politics. October 17, 2011. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  6. ↑ Cook, Michael (November 2, 2011). "First District Democrats Have Contested Primary". Talk Business & Politics. Retrieved November 2, 2011.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Brock, Roby (April 22, 2011). "Arkansas Election Line: New Congressional options". The City Wire. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
  8. 1 2 "Possible 1st District candidates". Arkansas Times. July 6, 2011. Retrieved July 6, 2011.
  9. 1 2 3 Miller, Joshua (June 2, 2011). "Race Ratings: Can Democrats Reclaim Arkansas Territory?". Roll Call. Retrieved June 3, 2011.
  10. 1 2 Merchant, Nomaan (September 7, 2011). "3 Democrats not running in Arkansas' 1st District". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Retrieved September 8, 2011.
  11. ↑ Brantley, Max (September 7, 2011). "Chad Causey won't run again in 2012". Arkansas Times. Retrieved September 7, 2011.
  12. 1 2 3 4 AR - Election Results
  13. ↑ "Pat Hays political future a source of speculation". Talk Business & Politics. August 23, 2011. Retrieved August 23, 2011.
  14. ↑ Brantley, Max (January 17, 2012). "Jay Martin confirms interest in 2nd District Congress". Arkansas Times. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
  15. 1 2 "Chris Thomason, David Boling Not Seeking U.S. House Seats". Arkansas Business. July 27, 2011. Retrieved July 29, 2011.
  16. ↑ "Edwards is staying in the state house - will not run for Congress". Tolbert Report. October 16, 2011. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  17. ↑ Clark, Lauren (November 1, 2011). "Drew Pritt drops out of Arkansas Congressional Race". Today's THV. Retrieved November 2, 2011.
  18. ↑ "Rebekah Kennedy". Arkansas Secretary of State. May 15, 2012. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
  19. ↑ Associated Press (August 14, 2012). "Arkansas AFL-CIO endorses Democrats, Green Party candidate in House races, but not Herb Rule". The Republic (Columbus). Retrieved August 15, 2012.
  20. ↑ Demillo, Andrew (August 30, 2011). "Democrat announces for NW Arkansas congressional seat". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Retrieved August 30, 2011.
  21. ↑ Brantley, Max (July 9, 2012). "Ken Aden dropping out of 3rd District congressional race". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 "In Ross's wake". Arkansas Times. July 27, 2011. Retrieved July 27, 2011.
  23. ↑ Brock, Roby (February 27, 2012). "Democrat Q. Byrum Hurst Enters Fourth District Congressional Race". Talk Business & Politics. Retrieved March 1, 2012.
  24. 1 2 3 Demillo, Andrew (August 29, 2011). "Rankin, Jeffress launch congressional bids in Ark.". RealClearPolitics. Retrieved August 30, 2011.
  25. 1 2 Brock, Roby (January 18, 2012). "Greg Hale's Name Surfaces In Fourth District Congressional Race". Talk Business & Politics. Retrieved January 24, 2012.
  26. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Ross will not seek re-election in 2012 (updated)". Talk Business & Politics. July 25, 2011. Retrieved July 31, 2011.
  27. 1 2 3 Catanese, David (July 25, 2011). "Can Dems hold the Ross seat?". Politico. Retrieved July 27, 2011.
  28. 1 2 Brock, Roby (December 12, 2011). "Ross District Director Rules Out Fourth District Run". Talk Business & Politics. Retrieved January 24, 2012.
  29. ↑ Brantley, Max (December 12, 2011). "Another (armed)candidate for 4th District Congress". Arkansas Times. Retrieved January 24, 2012.
  30. ↑ Tolbert, Jason (November 1, 2011). "Fourth District Gains More Candidates - Cowart and Tullis". Talk Business & Politics. Retrieved November 2, 2011.

External links

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