Arkansas State Senate elections, 2020

• Presidential election
  • Presidential candidates
• Congress elections
  • U.S. Congress
  • U.S. Senate
  • U.S. House
  • Congressional special elections
• State elections
  • Ballot measures
  • State executives
  • State legislatures
  • State legislature special elections
  • State supreme courts
  • Intermediate appellate courts
• Local elections
  • Ballot measures
  • Municipal government
  • Mayors
  • School boards
  • Trial courts
  • Political recalls
• Voter information
  • Sample ballot
  • Election calendar
  • Election results
  • Poll opening and closing times
  • Voting policies

2020 Arkansas Senate Elections
General	November 3, 2020
Primary	March 3, 2020
Primary runoff	March 31, 2020

Past Election Results

2018・2016・2014 2012・2010・2008

2020 Elections
Choose a chamber below:
Select an election Alaska Senate Alaska House Arizona Senate Arizona House Arkansas Senate Arkansas House California Senate California Assembly Colorado Senate Colorado House Connecticut Senate Connecticut House Delaware Senate Delaware House Florida Senate Florida House Georgia Senate Georgia House Hawaii Senate Hawaii House Idaho Senate Idaho House Illinois Senate Illinois House Indiana Senate Indiana House Iowa Senate Iowa House Kansas Senate Kansas House Kentucky Senate Kentucky House Maine Senate Maine House Massachusetts Senate Massachusetts House Michigan House Minnesota Senate Minnesota House Missouri Senate Missouri House Montana Senate Montana House Nebraska Senate Nevada Senate Nevada Assembly New Hampshire Senate New Hampshire House New Mexico Senate New Mexico House New York Senate New York Assembly North Carolina Senate North Carolina House North Dakota Senate North Dakota House Ohio Senate Ohio House Oklahoma Senate Oklahoma House Oregon Senate Oregon House Pennsylvania Senate Pennsylvania House Rhode Island Senate Rhode Island House South Carolina Senate South Carolina House South Dakota Senate South Dakota House Tennessee Senate Tennessee House Texas Senate Texas House Utah Senate Utah House Vermont Senate Vermont House Washington Senate Washington House West Virginia Senate West Virginia House Wisconsin Senate Wisconsin Assembly Wyoming Senate Wyoming House

Republicans gained seats in the 2020 elections for Arkansas State Senate, preserving their supermajority. Seventeen seats in the chamber were up for election in 2020. Heading into the election, Democrats held 9 seats and Republicans held 26. Republicans gained a net two seats from Democrats, winning a 28-7 majority.

The Arkansas State Senate was one of 86 state legislative chambers with elections in 2020. A total of 17 seats out of the Arkansas Senate's 35 seats were up for election in 2020. There are 99 chambers throughout the country. In 2018, 87 out of 99 legislative chambers held elections.

Arkansas' 2020 state legislative elections affected partisan control of redistricting following the 2020 census. In Arkansas, the state legislature is responsible for drawing congressional district maps. Congressional maps are subject to gubernatorial veto. A commission comprising the governor, the secretary of state, and the attorney general creates state legislative district maps.

Election procedure changes in 2020

See also: Changes to election dates, procedures, and administration in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

Ballotpedia provided comprehensive coverage of how election dates and procedures changed in 2020. While the majority of changes occurred as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some changes occurred for other reasons.

Arkansas modified its absentee/mail-in voting procedures for the November 3, 2020, general election as follows:

• Absentee/mail-in voting: Voters in the general election could cite concerns over COVID-19 as a valid excuse for voting absentee.

For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.

Party control

See also: Partisan composition of state senates and State government trifectas

Arkansas State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	9	7
	Republican Party	26	28
Total		35	35

Candidates

The candidate lists below are based on candidate filing lists provided by the Arkansas Secretary of State. (I) denotes an incumbent.

General election

   font-size: 16px !important;

} .thirdpartyname:not(:first-child) { padding-top: 5px; } .thirdpartyname { margin:0; } .candidate:last-child { padding-bottom: 5px; } @media only screen and (max-width: 600px) { .candidateListTablePartisan td { font-size: 12px !important; vertical-align: top; }

 }



Primary election

   font-size: 16px !important;

}
.thirdpartyname:not(:first-child) {
			padding-top: 5px;
}
.thirdpartyname {
	margin:0;
}
.candidate:last-child {
	padding-bottom: 5px;
}
@media only screen and (max-width: 600px) {
	.candidateListTablePartisan td {
		font-size: 12px !important;
		vertical-align: top;
	}

 }



 



Incumbents who were not re-elected

See also: Annual State Legislative Competitiveness Report: Vol. 10, 2020

Incumbents defeated in the general election

Two incumbents lost in the Nov. 3 general election. Those incumbents were

Name	Party	Office
Bruce Maloch	Democratic	Senate District 12
Eddie Cheatham	Democratic	Senate District 26

Incumbents defeated in primary elections

One incumbent lost in the March 3 primaries. That incumbent was:

Name	Party	Office
John Cooper	Republican	Senate District 21

Retiring incumbents

There was one open seat where the incumbent legislator did not file for re-election in 2020. That incumbent was:

Name	Party	Current Office
Will Bond	Democratic	Senate District 32

The one seat left open in 2020 was the fewest since 2010.

Open Seats in Arkansas State Senate elections: 2010 - 2020
Year	Total seats	Open seats	Seats with incumbents running for re-election
2020	17	1 (6 percent)	16 (94 percent)
2018	18	4 (22 percent)	14 (78 percent)
2016	17	2 (12 percent)	15 (88 percent)
2014	18	2 (11 percent)	16 (89 percent)
2012	35	11 (31 percent)	24 (69 percent)
2010	17	13 (76 percent)	4 (24 percent)

Process to become a candidate

See also: Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Arkansas

See statutes: Title 7 of the Arkansas Code

A candidate in Arkansas may run for office as a candidate of a recognized political party, as an independent, or as a write-in.

Political party candidates

A political party candidate must seek his or her party's nomination through either a primary election or party convention.

A political party candidate must file an affidavit of eligibility, political practices pledge, and party certificate with the Arkansas Secretary of State by March 1 in the year of the election. If March 1 falls on a holiday or weekend, these forms are due on the following business day. The candidate must pay a filing fee if one has been established by his or her party.

Independent candidates

An independent candidate must file a political practices pledge, affidavit of eligibility, and notice of candidacy with the Arkansas Secretary of State by March 1 in the year of the election. If March 1 falls on a holiday or weekend, these forms are due on the following business day.

Independent candidates must also collect petition signatures to gain ballot access. This process may begin 90 days before the petition filing deadline. The signature requirements vary depending on the office being sought. If a candidate is running for state executive office or the United States Senate, 10,000 qualified signatures, or the equivalent of 3 percent of voters in the state, whichever is fewer, are required. If the candidate is running for state legislative office or the United States House of Representatives, signatures equaling 3 percent of voters in the county, township, or district in which the candidate is seeking office are required. If this amount exceeds 2,000, the requirement is capped at 2,000.

Write-in candidates

Write-in candidates are not permitted to participate in presidential, municipal, or primary elections. In order to have his or her votes counted, a write-in candidate must file a political practices pledge, affidavit of eligibility, and a written notice of write-in candidacy with the Arkansas Secretary of State no later than 90 days prior to the general election. The candidate must also file a written notice of write-in candidacy with each county in which he or she seeks election.

Vacancies

Upon the death, resignation, or removal of a member of the U.S. Senate, the governor must make an appointment to fill the vacancy. If the term of the departing senator would have ended at the next scheduled general election, the gubernatorial appointee will serve out the remainder of the term. No special election will be held. If the term of the departing senator was not set to expire at the next general election (and the vacancy occurred four months or more before the next general election), a special election to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the vacated term will be held concurrently with the next general election. If the vacancy occurred less than four months before the next general election, a special election to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the term will be held concurrently with the second general election occurring after the vacancy.

2020 ballot access requirements

The table below details filing requirements for Arkansas State Senate candidates in the 2020 election cycle.

Filing requirements for state legislative candidates, 2020
Chamber name	Party	Signatures required	Filing fee	Filing deadline	Source
Arkansas State Senate	Qualified party	N/A	Varies by party and district	11/12/2019	Source
Arkansas State Senate	Unaffiliated	3% of qualified voters residing in the district	N/A	5/1/2020	Source

Qualifications

See also: State legislature candidate requirements by state

Article 5, Section 4 of the Arkansas Constitution states: No person shall be a Senator or Representative who, at the time of his election, is not a citizen of the United States, nor any one who has not been for two years next preceding his election, a resident of this State, and for one year next preceding his election, a resident of the county or district whence he may be chosen. Senators shall be at least twenty-five years of age, and Representatives at least twenty-one years of age.

Salaries and per diem

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries

State legislative salaries, 2024
Salary	Per diem
$44,356/year	For legislators residing within 50 miles of the capitol: $59/day. For legislators residing more than 50 miles from the capitol: $166/day.

When sworn in

See also: When state legislators assume office after a general election

Arkansas legislators assume office on the second Monday of January following their election.

Arkansas political history

Trifectas

A state government trifecta is a term that describes single-party government, when one political party holds the governor's office and has majorities in both chambers of the legislature in a state government.

Arkansas Party Control: 1992-2024
Eleven years of Democratic trifectas  •  Ten years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Governor	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
Senate	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
House	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

Presidential politics in Arkansas

2016 Presidential election results

U.S. presidential election, Arkansas, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes	Electoral votes
	Democratic	Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine	33.7%	380,494	0
	Republican	Donald Trump/Mike Pence	60.6%	684,872	6
	Constitution	Darrell Lane Castle/Scott Bradley	0.4%	4,613	0
	Independent	Jim Hedges/Bill Bayes	0.4%	4,709	0
	Libertarian	Gary Johnson/Bill Weld	2.6%	29,829	0
	Independent	Lynn S. Kahn/Kathleen Monahan	0.3%	3,390	0
	Better for America	Evan McMullin/Nathan Johnson	1.2%	13,255	0
	Green	Jill Stein/Ajamu Baraka	0.8%	9,473	0
Total Votes				1,130,635	6
Election results via: Arkansas Secretary of State

Voter information

How the primary works

A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Arkansas utilizes an open primary system. Registered voters do not have to be members of a party to vote in that party's primary.

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

Poll times

In Arkansas, all polls are open from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. An individual who is in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote.

Registration requirements

Check your voter registration status here.

To vote in Arkansas, one must be a citizen of the United States and a resident of Arkansas. A voter must be 18 years of age or older on or before Election Day, not be a convicted felon whose sentence has not been discharged or pardoned, and not be adjudged as mentally incompetent.

Registration must be completed no later than 30 days before the election in which a voter wishes to participate. Citizens must complete and submit a voter registration application to their county clerk or other authorized voter registration agency. For voters that submit applications by mail, the date of postmark will be considered the submission date. Applications may be obtained at the following locations:

• County clerk's office
• The Arkansas Secretary of State Elections Division
• Local revenue or DMV office
• Public library
• Disability agency
• Military recruitment office
• Online

Automatic registration

Arkansas does not practice automatic voter registration.

Online registration

See also: Online voter registration

Arkansas does not permit online voter registration.

Same-day registration

Arkansas does not allow same-day voter registration.

Residency requirements

Arkansas law requires 30 days of residency in the state before a person may vote.

Verification of citizenship

See also: Laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States

Arkansas does not require proof of citizenship for voter registration. An individual must attest that they are a U.S. citizen when registering to vote. According to the state's voter registration application, a voter who provides false information "may be subject to a fine of up to $10,000 and/or imprisonment of up to 10 years under state and federal laws."

All 49 states with voter registration systems require applicants to declare that they are U.S. citizens in order to register to vote in state and federal elections, under penalty of perjury or other punishment. As of November 2024, five states — Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, and New Hampshire — had passed laws requiring verification of citizenship at the time of voter registration. However, only two of those states' laws were in effect, in Arizona and New Hampshire. In three states — California, Maryland, and Vermont — at least one local jurisdiction allowed noncitizens to vote in some local elections as of November 2024. Noncitizens registering to vote in those elections must complete a voter registration application provided by the local jurisdiction and are not eligible to register as state or federal voters.

Verifying your registration

The site Voter View, run by the Arkansas Secretary of State's office, allows residents to check their voter registration status online.

Voter ID requirements

Arkansas requires voters to present photo identification while voting. The identification must include the voter’s name and photograph. It must be issued by "the United States, the State of Arkansas, or an accredited postsecondary educational institution in the State of Arkansas." If the identification has an expiration date on it, it cannot be expired for "more than four (4) years before the date of the election in which the voter seeks to vote."

The following list of accepted ID was current as of July 2024. Click here for the Arkansas Secretary of State's page on accepted ID to ensure you have the most current information.

• Driver’s license
• Photo identification card
• Concealed handgun carry license
• United States passport
• Employee badge or identification document issued by an accredited postsecondary education institution in the State of Arkansas
• United States military identification document
• Public assistance identification card if it has a photograph
• Voter verification card as provided under Ark. Code § 7-5-324

"A person who is a resident of a long-term care or residential care facility licensed by the state of Arkansas is not required to verify his or her registration by presenting a document or identification card as described above when voting in person, but must provide documentation from the administrator of the facility attesting that the person is a resident of the facility," according to the Arkansas Secretary of State’s office.

Voters can obtain a voter verification card at their county clerk's office: "[V]oters will be required to complete an affidavit stating they do not possess such identification, and must provide documentation containing their full legal name and date of birth, as well as documentation containing their name and residential address."

Early voting

Arkansas permits early voting. Learn more by visiting this website.

Early voting permits citizens to cast ballots in person at a polling place prior to an election. In states that permit no-excuse early voting, a voter does not have to provide an excuse for being unable to vote on Election Day. States that allow voters to cast no-excuse absentee/mail-in ballots in person are counted as no-excuse early voting states.

As of February 2024, 47 states and the District of Columbia permitted no-excuse early voting.

Absentee voting

Arkansas voters are eligible to vote absentee/mail-in in an election if they cannot make it to the polls on Election Day for one of the following reasons:

• The voter will be "unavoidably absent" from his or her polling location on Election Day.
• The voter is physically unable to visit his or her polling location on Election Day due to illness or disability.
• The voter is a member of the armed services, merchant marines, or is the spouse or dependent of such an individual and "are away from your polling location due to the member’s active duty status."
• The voter is temporarily living outside the United States.

To vote absentee/mail-in, a request must be received by elections officials either seven days prior to the election (if submitted by mail or fax), by the Friday before the election (if submitted in person), or by 1:30 p.m. on the day of the election if the request is made by an authorized agent for a voter confined in a hospital or nursing home. The deadline to return an absentee/mail-in ballot is by close of business the Friday before the election if returned in person, or received by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day if submitted by mail or by an authorized agent. Military and overseas voters must complete their ballot by Election Day and they must be received by their county clerk by 5:00 p.m. 10 days after the election.

See also

• Arkansas State Senate
• Arkansas State Legislature
• State legislative elections, 2020

External links

Suggest a link

• Arkansas State Legislature

Footnotes

[show]

Current members of the Arkansas State Senate

Leadership

Majority Leader:Blake Johnson

Minority Leader:Greg Leding

Senators

District 1

Ben Gilmore (R)

District 2

Matt Stone (R)

District 3

Steve Crowell (R)

District 4

Jimmy Hickey (R)

District 5

Terry Rice (R)

District 6

Matt McKee (R)

District 7

Alan Clark (R)

District 8

Stephanie Flowers (D)

District 9

Reginald Murdock (D)

District 10

Ronald Caldwell (R)

District 11

Ricky Hill (R)

District 12

Linda Chesterfield (D)

District 13

Jane English (R)

District 14

Clarke Tucker (D)

District 15

Fredrick Love (D)

District 16

Kim Hammer (R)

District 17

Mark Johnson (R)

District 18

Jonathan Dismang (R)

District 19

Dave Wallace (R)

District 20

Dan Sullivan (R)

District 21

Blake Johnson (R)

District 22

John Payton (R)

District 23

Scott Flippo (R)

District 24

Missy Irvin (R)

District 25

Breanne Davis (R)

District 26

Gary Stubblefield (R)

District 27

Justin Boyd (R)

District 28

Bryan King (R)

District 29

Jim Petty (R)

District 30

Greg Leding (D)

District 31

Clint Penzo (R)

District 32

Joshua Bryant (R)

District 33

Bart Hester (R)

District 34

Jim Dotson (R)

District 35

Tyler Dees (R)

Republican Party (29)

Democratic Party (6)