Arkansas, Attorney General

Arkansas held an election for attorney general on November 6, 2018. The candidate filing deadline was March 1, 2018.

SETTING THE STAGE
Heading into the election, the attorney general was Leslie Rutledge (R), who was first elected in 2014. Rutledge announced on October 17, 2016, that she would seek re-election in 2018.
Heading into the election, Arkansas was a Republican trifecta. It had held this status since Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) took office in 2015. Arkansas was also a Republican triplex.
The Republican presidential candidate won Arkansas in each of the past five election cycles. The widest margin of victory was Donald Trump's 27 percent margin in 2016 while the narrowest was George W. Bush's five percent margin in 2000.

State election history

This section provides an overview of federal and state elections in Arkansas from 2000 to 2016. All data comes from the Arkansas Secretary of State.

Historical elections

Presidential elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the presidential election in Arkansas every year from 2000 to 2016.

Election results (President of the United States), Arkansas 2000-2016

Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Donald Trump	60.6%	Hillary Clinton	33.7%	26.9%
2012	Mitt Romney	60.6%	Barack Obama	36.9%	23.7%
2008	John McCain	58.7%	Barack Obama	38.9%	19.8%
2004	George W. Bush	54.3%	John Kerry	44.6%	9.7%
2000	George W. Bush	51.3%	Al Gore	45.9%	5.4%

U.S. Senate elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of U.S. Senate races in Arkansas from 2000 to 2016. Every state has two Senate seats, and each seat goes up for election every six years. The terms of the seats are staggered so that roughly one-third of the seats are up every two years.

Election results (U.S. Senator), Arkansas 2000-2016

Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	John Boozman	59.8%	Conner Eldridge	36.2%	23.6%
2014	Tom Cotton	56.5%	Mark Pryor	39.4%	22.9%
2010	John Boozman	57.9%	Blanche Lincoln	37.0%	1.6%
2008	Mark Pryor	79.5%	Rebekah Kennedy(Green Party)	20.5%	59.0%
2004	Blanche Lincoln	55.9%	Jim Holt	44.1%	11.8%
2002	Mark Pryor	53.9%	Tim Hutchinson	46.1%	7.8%

Gubernatorial elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the four gubernatorial elections held between 2000 and 2016. Gubernatorial elections are held every four years in Arkansas.

Election results (Governor), Arkansas 2000-2016

Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2014	Asa Hutchinson	55.4%	Mike Ross	46.3%	9.1%
2010	Mike Beebe	64.4%	Jim Keet	33.6%	30.8%
2006	Mike Beebe	55.6%	Asa Hutchinson	40.7%	14.9%
2002	Mike Huckabee	53.0%	Jimmie Lou Fisher	46.9%	6.1%

Congressional delegation, 2000-2016

This chart shows the number of Democrats and Republicans who were elected to represent Arkansas in the U.S. House from 2000 to 2016. Elections for U.S. House seats are held every two years.

Congressional delegation, Arkansas 2000-2016

Year	Republicans	Republicans (%)	Democrats	Democrats (%)	Balance of power
2016	4	100%	0	0%	R+4
2014	4	100%	0	0%	R+4
2012	4	100%	0	0%	R+4
2010	3	75%	1	25%	R+3
2008	1	25%	3	75%	D+3
2006	1	25%	3	75%	D+3
2004	1	25%	3	75%	D+3
2002	1	25%	3	75%	D+3
2000	1	25%	3	75%	D+3

Trifectas, 1992-2017

A state government trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.

Arkansas Party Control: 1992-2019
11 years of Democratic trifectas • Five years of Republican trifectas

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
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
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
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

Demographics

Demographic data for Arkansas

	Arkansas	U.S.
Total population:	2,977,853	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	52,035	3,531,905
Gender
Female:	50.9%	50.8%
Race and ethnicity**
White:	78%	73.6%
Black/African American:	15.5%	12.6%
Asian:	1.4%	5.1%
Native American:	0.6%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.2%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.1%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	6.9%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	84.8%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	21.1%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$41,371	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	22.9%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Arkansas.

As of July 2016, Arkansas' three largest cities were Little Rock (pop. est. 198,606), Ft. Smith (pop. est. 88,037), and Fayetteville (pop. est. 85,257).