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. Under Powell Clayton, it played a preeminent role in politics at the height of Reconstruction in the state (1864–1874). The party chairman is Joseph K. Wood, and the current executive director is Drew Martin.

History

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.

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

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

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

#GovernorPhotoCountyStart dateEnd dateTime in office
9Powell Clayton (1833–1914)JeffersonJuly 2, 1868March 17, 18712 years, 258 days
—Ozra Amander Hadley (1826–1915)PulaskiMarch 17, 1871January 6, 18731 year, 295 days
10Elisha Baxter (1827–1899)IndependenceJanuary 6, 1873November 12, 18741 year, 310 days
37Winthrop Rockefeller (1912–1973)ConwayJanuary 10, 1967January 12, 19714 years, 2 days
41Frank D. White (1933–2003)PulaskiJanuary 19, 1981January 11, 19831 year, 357 days
44Mike Huckabee (born 1955)HempsteadJuly 15, 1996January 9, 200710 years, 359 days
46Asa Hutchinson (born 1950)BentonJanuary 13, 2015January 10, 20237 years, 362 days
47Sarah Huckabee Sanders (born 1982)HempsteadJanuary 10, 2023Incumbent3 years, 97 days

Current elected officials

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

U.S. Senate

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

U.S. House of Representatives

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

DistrictMemberPhoto
1stRick Crawford
2ndFrench Hill
3rdSteve Womack
4thBruce Westerman

Statewide offices

Republicans control all seven of the elected statewide constitutional offices:

State legislative leaders

List of chairmen

This is a list of chairmen of the Republican Party of Arkansas:

Electoral history

Gubernatorial

Arkansas Republican Party gubernatorial election results
ElectionGubernatorial candidateVotesVote %Result
1994Sheffield Nelson287,90440.16%Lost N
1998Mike Huckabee421,98959.77%Won Y
2002Mike Huckabee427,08253.02%Won Y
2006Asa Hutchinson315,04040.67%Lost N
2010Jim Keet262,78433.63%Lost N
2014Asa Hutchinson470,42955.44%Won Y
2018Asa Hutchinson582,40665.33%Won Y
2022Sarah Huckabee Sanders571,10562.96%Won Y

See also

Notes

Citations

External links

34°44′41.1″N 92°17′04.7″W/34.744750°N 92.284639°W/ 34.744750; -92.284639