2022 Arkansas gubernatorial election

The 2022 Arkansas gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Arkansas. Incumbent Republican governor Asa Hutchinson was term-limited and could not seek a third term. Republican Sarah Huckabee Sanders, daughter of former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, defeated Democrat Chris Jones to become the first woman ever elected to the office, and was sworn in on January 10, 2023.

For related races, see 2022 United States gubernatorial elections.

2022 Arkansas gubernatorial election
November 8, 2022
Turnout50.8% Decrease
 
Nominee Sarah Huckabee Sanders Chris Jones
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 571,105 319,242
Percentage 63.0% 35.2%
Sanders:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Jones:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%
Governor before election

Asa Hutchinson
Republican

 Elected Governor

Sarah Huckabee Sanders
Republican

Elections in Arkansas
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Mayoral elections

Primary elections in Arkansas were held on May 24. Runoff elections for instances where no candidate receives over 50% of the vote were scheduled for June 21. Former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders won the Republican nomination, while Chris Jones won the Democratic nomination.[1]

Leading up to the Republican Primary, Sanders received many endorsements from key Republican figures, including Donald Trump, Mike Pence, incumbent Asa Hutchinson, Arkansas' entire U.S. Congressional delegation, and the majority of GOP representatives from the State House and State Senate. Her primary victory was not remotely close, as she won every county in the state with at least 70% of the vote. As Arkansas is a Republican stronghold, her victory virtually guaranteed she would win the general election, in which she defeated Jones by 28 points. Jones became the first Democrat to win Washington County since 2010, and Sanders became the first Republican to win majority-Black Crittenden County since her father in 1998, winning the county by one vote. This is the first time ever that a Republican won three straight gubernatorial elections in the state's history.

Sanders became the first female Governor of Arkansas. With the election of Leslie Rutledge as lieutenant governor, Arkansas, along with Massachusetts, became the first two U.S. states to elect both a female governor and female lieutenant Governor to serve at the same time.

Republican primary

Nominee

Eliminated in primary
  • Francis "Doc" Washburn, radio personality[3]

Withdrew

Endorsements
Sarah Huckabee Sanders
U.S. Executive Branch officials
U.S. Senators
U.S. Representatives
U.S. Governors
State officials
Individuals
Organizations

Polling
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size[lower-alpha 1]		 Margin
of error		 Leslie
Rutledge		 Sarah
Huckabee Sanders		 Francis
Washburn		 Undecided
Hendrix College May 2, 2022 802 (LV) ± 4.3% – 73% 17% 10%
Remington Research (R) May 1–2, 2022 1,622 (LV) ± 2.2% – 80% 14% 6%
November 9, 2021 Rutledge withdraws from the race
Remington Research (R) October 25–26, 2021 800 (LV) ± 3.5% 16% 73% – 11%
Hendrix College May 26–31, 2021 535 (LV) ± 5.5% 35% 43% – 22%

Results
Results by county:
  Sanders
  •   70–80%
  •   80–90%
  •   90-100%
Republican primary results[30]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Sarah Huckabee Sanders 289,249 83.14%
Republican Francis "Doc" Washburn 58,638 16.86%
Total votes 347,887 100.0%

Democratic primary

Nominee
  • Chris Jones, nuclear engineer, MIT graduate, and former executive director of the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub[31][32]

Eliminated in primary

Declined

Endorsements
Chris Jones
Newspaper and other media
Organizations
Jay Martin
Organizations
Supha Xayprasith-Mays
Governors
Statewide officials

Polling
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size[lower-alpha 1]		 Margin
of error		 Anthony
Bland		 Chris
Jones		 Supha
Xayprasith-Mays		 Jay
Martin		 James
Russell		 Undecided
Hendrix College May 2, 2022 597 (LV) ± 5.0% 3% 60% 2% 3% 2% 31%

Results
Results by county:
  Jones
  •   20-30%
  •   30-40%
  •   40-50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  •   80-90%
Democratic primary results[30]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Chris Jones 66,540 70.43%
Democratic Anthony Bland 9,055 9.58%
Democratic Jay Martin 7,731 8.18%
Democratic James "Rus" Russell 6,421 6.80%
Democratic Supha Xayprasith-Mays 4,725 5.00%
Total votes 94,472 100.0%

Libertarian convention
The Libertarian nominee, prison chaplain Ricky Harrington from Pine Bluff

Nominee

Independents

Declared
  • William E. Gates, senior pastor at the church of Christian Jewish Freedom in Little Rock[50]

Write-ins

Declared
  • Dan Nelson, activist[51]
  • Michael Woodard[51]
  • Elvis Presley, perennial candidate[52]

General election

Predictions
Source Ranking As of
The Cook Political Report[53] Solid R March 4, 2022
Inside Elections[54] Solid R March 4, 2022
Sabato's Crystal Ball[55] Safe R January 26, 2022
Politico[56] Solid R April 1, 2022
RCP[57] Safe R January 10, 2022
Fox News[58] Solid R May 12, 2022
538[59] Solid R June 30, 2022
Elections Daily[60] Safe R November 7, 2022

Endorsements
Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R)
U.S. Executive Branch officials
U.S. Senators
U.S. Representatives
U.S. Governors
State officials
Individuals
Organizations
Chris Jones (D)
Labor Unions
Organizations

Polling
Aggregate polls
Source of poll
aggregation		 Dates
administered		 Dates
updated		 Sarah
Huckabee
Sanders (R)		 Chris
Jones (D)		 Undecided
[lower-alpha 2]		 Margin
FiveThirtyEight August 31 – October 31, 2022 November 3, 2022 54.4% 36.1% 9.5% Sanders +18.3
Graphical summary
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size[lower-alpha 1]		 Margin
of error		 Sarah
Huckabee
Sanders (R)		 Chris
Jones (D)		 Ricky
Harrington (L)		 Undecided
University of Arkansas October 13–31, 2022 557 (LV) – 53% 34% 4% 9%
Hendrix College October 17–18, 2022 835 (LV) ± 3.8% 51% 41% 3% 5%
Remington Research Group (R) September 14–15, 2022 1,418 (LV) ± 3.4% 59% 34% 3% 4%
Hendrix College September 12, 2022 835 (LV) ± 3.8% 51% 40% 2% 7%
Echelon Insights August 31 – September 7, 2022 382 (RV) ± 7.7% 62% 32% – 6%
Remington Research Group (R) February 26–27, 2022 827 (LV) ± 3.4% 58% 28% 3% 10%
Hypothetical polling
Sarah Huckabee Sanders vs. generic Democrat
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size[lower-alpha 1]		 Margin
of error		 Sarah
Huckabee
Sanders (R)		 Generic
Democrat		 Other Undecided
Hendrix College February 7–8, 2022 961 (LV) ± 4.4% 44% 34% 8% 15%
Generic Republican vs. generic Democrat
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size[lower-alpha 1]		 Margin
of error		 Generic
Republican		 Generic
Democrat		 Undecided
University of Arkansas October 12–24, 2021 800 (A) ± 3.5% 46% 21% 34%
555 (LV) ± 4.2% 50% 23% 27%

Debates
2022 Arkansas gubernatorial debates
No. Date Host Moderator Link Republican Democratic Libertarian
Key:
 P  Participant   A  Absent   N  Non-invitee   I  Invitee  W  Withdrawn
Sarah Huckabee Sanders Chris Jones Ricky Harrington Jr
1 Oct, 2022 Arkansas PBS Link P P P


Results
2022 Arkansas gubernatorial election[62]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Sarah Huckabee Sanders 571,105 62.96% -2.37%
Democratic Chris Jones 319,242 35.20% +3.43%
Libertarian Ricky Dale Harrington Jr. 16,690 1.84% -1.06%
Total votes 907,037 100.0% N/A
Turnout 907,037 50.81%
Registered electors 1,799,136
Republican hold

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

By congressional district

Huckabee Sanders won all 4 congressional districts.[63]

District Huckabee Sanders Jones Representative
1st 70% 28% Rick Crawford
2nd 56% 43% French Hill
3rd 60% 38% Steve Womack
4th 68% 30% Bruce Westerman

See also

Notes
  1. Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear
  2. Calculated by taking the difference of 100% and all other candidates combined.

References
  1. "Arkansas Primary Election Results". The New York Times. May 24, 2022. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  2. "Sarah Sanders Running for Arkansas Governor". Associated Press. January 25, 2021. Archived from the original on February 1, 2021. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  3. "Republican Doc Washburn Enters Arkansas Governors Race". Arkansas Money & Politics. February 15, 2022. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
  4. Brock, Roby (February 8, 2021). "Griffin to exit Governor's race, will seek AG post". Talk Business and Politics. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  5. Brock, Roby (November 9, 2021). "AG Rutledge enters Lt. Governor's race". Talk Business & Politics. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  6. Jacob Jarvis (January 26, 2021). "Donald Trump Endorses 'Warrior' Sarah Sanders for Arkansas Governor". Newsweek.
  7. Julia Manchester (March 15, 2021). "Pence endorses Sarah Huckabee Sanders for Arkansas governor". The Hill.
  8. "Thank you to my friend Attorney General Bill Barr for the strong endorsement!". Twitter. May 5, 2021. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
  9. @Alyssafarah (January 25, 2021). "here for this. @SarahHuckabee is one of the kindest & most caring people. She's also a force, who loves her country & the state of Arkansas" (Tweet). Retrieved January 25, 2021 – via Twitter.
  10. @StephenM (January 25, 2021). "I had the incredible privilege of getting to work alongside @SarahHuckabee. Sarah is a leader of profound faith, powerful conviction, and true compassion. She will always fight for what is right — and she will make an extraordinary governor for the people of Arkansas" (Tweet). Retrieved January 25, 2021 – via Twitter.
  11. @SonnyPerdue (January 27, 2021). "My friend @SarahHuckabee was a champion of truth to the American people in the White House. Her life has prepared her for this moment, and I look forward to welcoming her to the club of Governors" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  12. Brantley, Max (March 26, 2021). "Won't you come home, Sarah Sanders? She raises money with Mike Pompeo in Texas while Leslie Rutledge hangs out in Arkansas with Tracy Lawrence". Arkansas Times. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  13. @DanScavino (December 16, 2019). "Awesome seeing a great friend and the future Governor of Arkansas, @SarahHuckabee Sanders, at the White House this past week! Would love to see her run - do it Sarah" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  14. Bratton, Regina (October 4, 2021). "CPAC Endorses Sarah Huckabee Sanders". American Conservative Union. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  15. @mercedesschlapp (January 25, 2021). "I have known @SarahHuckabee for years and worked closely with her. She is a strong, wise, and talented leader who will put the people of Arkansas first" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  16. Stimson, Brie (November 13, 2021). "Sarah Sanders snaps up Arkansas endorsements from governor, congressional delegation". Fox News. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  17. Gaetz, Matt [@mattgaetz] (January 25, 2021). "We support you 100 percent Sarah!" (Tweet). Retrieved January 25, 2021 – via Twitter.
  18. @EliseStefanik (January 25, 2021). "America is all in for @SarahHuckabee – a great patriot, leader, and a friend!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  19. Counts, Chris (January 25, 2021). "Sarah Huckabee Sanders officially announces her candidacy for Arkansas Governor". KARK. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  20. Gladden, Drew (November 18, 2021). "101 Arkansas Legislators Endorse Sarah Huckabee Sanders for Governor". Arkansas Times. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  21. Brantley, Max (March 16, 2021). "Sarah Huckabee Sanders: Running for governor everywhere but Arkansas". Arkansas Times. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  22. Brawner, Steve (November 24, 2021). "Republicans fall in line behind Sarah | Steve Brawner". Times Record. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  23. "I'm all in for you as Governor of Arkansas @SarahHuckabee you're a great lady & have always admired your father! Much love to you and your family! Go Hogs and Go Sarah!". Twitter. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  24. @kimguilfoyle (January 25, 2021). "Sarah Huckabee Sanders for Governor youtu.be/opbMn-n76AQ via @YouTube Amen with you all the way, let's go @SarahHuckabee!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  25. @SarahHuckabee (January 27, 2021). "Thank you to my friend @SeanHannity for your support!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  26. @KatrinaPierson (January 25, 2021). "Congratulations to my dear friend and sister in Christ, @SarahHuckabee . I'm so happy and excited for next journey. You will be a phenomenal Governor for the people's Republic of Arkansas!" (Tweet). Retrieved January 25, 2021 – via Twitter.
  27. Goldberg, Paul. "Breaking: Kid Rock backs Sarah Sanders for Arkansas Governor". News Thud. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  28. Guardian Staff (January 25, 2021). "Sarah Sanders, former Trump press secretary, runs for Arkansas governor". The Guardian. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  29. "2022 Candidates". www.maggieslist.org. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  30. "2022 Preferential Primary and Nonpartisan Judicial General Election".
  31. Brantley, Max (April 6, 2021). "Meet a candidate for attorney general; with a brother in the wings on the other side". Arkansas Times. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  32. "Chris Jones, a nuclear engineer and political newcomer, enters Arkansas governor's race". NBC News. June 15, 2021.
  33. Jared, George (March 26, 2021). "Supha Xayprasith-Mays to seek Democratic nomination for governor in 2022". Talk Business and Politics. Retrieved March 29, 2021. James "Rus" Russell has also announced for the Democratic nomination for governor as has Anthony Bland, who ran for Lt. Governor in 2018.
  34. Brock, Roby (February 7, 2021). "Political newcomer James Russell to seek Democratic nomination for Governor in 2022". KATV. Talk Business & Politics. Archived from the original on June 27, 2021. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
  35. "Supha Xayprasith-Mays announces run for Arkansas governor in 2022". KFSM. March 26, 2021. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  36. "A pro-life Democrat enters the governor's race". Magnolia Reporter. February 17, 2022. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  37. "Arkansas mother, foster care advocate announces run for lieutenant governor". KARK. September 8, 2021. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
  38. @GregLeding (January 24, 2021). "This is some excellent company, Kim, and I appreciate it—but it won't be me" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  39. @ClarkeTucker (January 24, 2021). "Thank you Kim! It's not going to be me. But I do appreciate the support" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  40. "Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Endorses Chris Jones in Democratic Primary". SWARK Today. May 16, 2022. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  41. "314 Action Fund Endorses Nuclear Engineer Chris Jones in AR-GOV Race". 314 Action. November 11, 2021.
  42. "Collective PAC Endorses Chris Jones for Governor". AR Money & Politics. June 29, 2021.
  43. "Democracy for America Endorses Dr. Chris Jones for Governor of Arkansas". SWARK Today. May 13, 2022. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  44. @demsforlife (April 28, 2022). "Meet our six endorsed pro-life Democrats! @Christhecitizen @JoyceGriggs2022 @tobias_lagrone @JayMartinforAR…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  45. Wickline, Michael (March 27, 2021). "In governor's race, business exec says inclusion a priority". Northwest Arkansas Democratic-Gazette. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  46. "Richard Leon Mays (1943–)". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  47. Hale, Tyler (April 23, 2021). "Harrington Declares Intent to Seek Arkansas Governor's Office in 2022". Arkansas Money and Politics. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  48. "Home". Ricky Harrington for Governor. Retrieved March 31, 2022. Ricky resides in Pine Bluff.
  49. Brawner, Steve (February 21, 2022). "Libertarians nominate more than 50, including Harrington for governor". Talk Business and Politics. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
  50. "William E. Gates joins crowded Arkansas governor's race". Southwest Times Record. July 20, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  51. "Candidate Information". Arkansas Secretary of State. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  52. "Elvis Presley listed among Arkansas gubernatorial candidates". Washington Examiner. February 26, 2022.
  53. "2022 Governor Race Ratings". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  54. "Gubernatorial Ratings". Inside Elections. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  55. "2022 Gubernatorial race ratings". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  56. "Arkansas Governor Race 2022". Politico. April 1, 2022.
  57. "2022 Governor Races". RCP. January 10, 2022. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
  58. "2022 Election Forecast". Fox News. May 12, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  59. "2022 Election Forecast". FiveThirtyEight. June 30, 2022. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  60. Szymanski, Joe (November 7, 2022). "Elections Daily Unveils Final 2022 Midterm Ratings". Elections Daily. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
  61. "Arkansas Endorsed Candidates 2022 | CWA District 6". cwad6.org. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  62. "2022 General Election and Nonpartisan Judicial Runoff Election". Retrieved May 7, 2023.
  63. @DrewSav (July 14, 2023). "hmm" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
Official campaign websites
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