Governor of Arkansas

Arkansas Governor
General information
Office Type:	Partisan
Office website:	Official Link
Compensation:	$158,739
2024 FY Budget:	$6,516,625
Term limits:	2
Structure
Length of term:	4 years
Authority:	Arkansas Constitution, Article 6, Section 2
Selection Method:	Elected
Current Officeholder
Governor of Arkansas Sarah Huckabee Sanders Republican Party Assumed office: 2023-01-10
Elections
Next election:	November 3, 2026
Last election:	November 8, 2022
Other Arkansas Executive Offices
Governor • Lieutenant Governor • Secretary of State • Attorney General • Treasurer • Auditor • Commissioner of Education • Agriculture Secretary • Insurance Commissioner • Commissioner of State Lands • Natural Resources Exec. Director • Labor Director • Public Service Commission

The Governor of the State of Arkansas is an elected constitutional officer, the head of the executive branch, and the highest state office in Arkansas. The governor is popularly elected every four years by a plurality and is limited to two terms.

Arkansas has a Republican trifecta. The Republican Party controls the office of governor and both chambers of the state legislature.

Arkansas has a Republican triplex. The Republican Party controls the offices of governor, secretary of state, and attorney general.

Current officeholder

The 47th and current governor is Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R). She was first elected in 2022 and sworn in on January 10, 2023.

Authority

The Constitution of Arkansas establishes the office of the governor in Article VI, the Executive.

Arkansas Constitution, Article 6, Section 2

The supreme executive power of this State shall be vested in a chief magistrate, who shall be styled "the Governor of the State of Arkansas."

Qualifications

State Executives
Current Governors
Gubernatorial Elections
2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014
Current Lt. Governors
Lt. Governor Elections
2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014

Under Article VI, Section 11 of the Constitution, the governor may not hold any federal office, any civil or military commission, any office in another state, or any other office in Arkansas concurrently with his or her gubernatorial term. Per Article VI, Section 5, the governor must be at least 30 years old, an American citizen, and a resident of Arkansas for at least seven years on election day.

Constitution of Arkansas, Article 6, Section 11

No member of Congress, or other person holding office under the authority of this State, or of the United States, shall exercise the office of Governor, except as herein provided.

Constitution of Arkansas, Article 6, Section 5

No person shall be eligible to the office of Governor except a citizen of the United States, who shall have attained the age of thirty years, and shall have been seven years a resident of this State.

Elections

Arkansas state government organizational chart

See also: Gubernatorial election cycles by state

See also: Election of governors

Arkansas elects governors during federal midterm election years (e.g. 2018, 2022, 2026, 2030 and 2034). The gubernatorial inauguration is always set for the second Tuesday in January following the election. If two candidates are tied after the general election, then a joint session of the legislature will choose the winner by simple balloting when the Arkansas State Legislature convenes.

2022

See also: Arkansas gubernatorial election, 2022

General election

General election for Governor of Arkansas

The following candidates ran in the general election for Governor of Arkansas on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R)	63.0	571,105
		Chris Jones (D)	35.2	319,242
		Ricky Dale Harrington Jr. (L)	1.8	16,690
		Jason Tate (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	0
		Dan Nelson (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	0
		Michael Woodard (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	0
		Elvis Presley (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	0

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 907,037
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Arkansas

Chris Jones defeated Anthony Bland, Jay Martin, James Russell, and Supha Xayprasith-Mays in the Democratic primary for Governor of Arkansas on May 24, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Chris Jones	70.4	66,540
		Anthony Bland	9.6	9,055
		Jay Martin	8.2	7,731
		James Russell	6.8	6,421
		Supha Xayprasith-Mays	5.0	4,725

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 94,472
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Arkansas

Sarah Huckabee Sanders defeated Doc Washburn in the Republican primary for Governor of Arkansas on May 24, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sarah Huckabee Sanders	83.1	289,249
		Doc Washburn	16.9	58,638

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 347,887
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Tim Griffin (R)
• Leslie Rutledge (R)
• Leticia Sanders (R)

Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for Governor of Arkansas

Ricky Dale Harrington Jr. advanced from the Libertarian convention for Governor of Arkansas on February 20, 2022.

		Candidate
✔		Ricky Dale Harrington Jr. (L)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2018

See also: Arkansas gubernatorial election, 2018

General election

General election for Governor of Arkansas

Incumbent Asa Hutchinson defeated Jared Henderson and Mark West in the general election for Governor of Arkansas on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Asa Hutchinson (R)	65.3	582,406
		Jared Henderson (D)	31.8	283,218
		Mark West (L)	2.9	25,885

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 891,509
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Arkansas

Jared Henderson defeated Leticia Sanders in the Democratic primary for Governor of Arkansas on May 22, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jared Henderson	63.3	67,046
		Leticia Sanders	36.7	38,873

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 105,919
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Arkansas

Incumbent Asa Hutchinson defeated Jan Morgan in the Republican primary for Governor of Arkansas on May 22, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Asa Hutchinson	69.6	143,648
		Jan Morgan	30.4	62,757

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 206,405
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2014

See also: Arkansas gubernatorial election, 2014

Governor of Arkansas, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Asa Hutchinson	55.4%	470,429
	Democratic	Mike Ross	41.5%	352,115
	Libertarian	Frank Gilbert	1.9%	16,319
	Green	Josh Drake	1.1%	9,729
Total Votes				848,592
Election results via Arkansas Secretary of State

Term limits

See also: States with gubernatorial term limits

Arkansas governors are restricted to two terms in office during their lifetime.

Arkansas Constitution of 1874, Amendment 73

No elected officials of the Executive Department of this State may serve in the same office more than two such four-year terms.

Partisan composition

The chart below shows the partisan breakdown of Arkansas governors from 1992 to 2013.

Vacancies

See also: How gubernatorial vacancies are filled

Details of vacancy appointments are addressed under Article 6, Sections 12 to 14.

If the elected governor resigns, dies, is removed, or is otherwise unable to discharge the office, the lieutenant governor is the first to succeed, serving as the governor until an election is held. The lieutenant governor also serves as acting governor if the incumbent is temporarily unable to exercise the office. The next in line is the speaker of the Arkansas House of Representatives. In Arkansas, the lieutenant governor also serves as the president of the Arkansas State Senate.

If the next scheduled general election is more than 12 months away when the acting governor assumes office, she or he must call a special election, with a minimum of 60 days notice, run according to the same rules that administer a regular election.

Duties

The governor is the commander-in-chief of all the state's military and naval forces except when either force is already under federal command.

The governor must deliver periodic (traditionally annual) addresses to the legislature. These "State of the State" speeches concern the condition of the state and includes the governor's recommendation for specific policies and steps. He is required to deliver one such address at the end of his official term.

The governor has veto power over all legislative actions, including appropriation bills, concurrent orders and resolutions. In the case of orders and resolutions, the gubernatorial veto does not extend to an order to adjourn the legislature. Lawmakers may override a gubernatorial veto by a simple majority of both houses.

The Arkansas Constitution grants the governor, "power to grant reprieves, commutations of sentence, and pardons, after conviction; and to remit fines and forfeitures, under such rules and regulations as shall be prescribed by law." This power does not extend to cases of treason or impeachment. In cases of treason, the governor may grant reprieves with the advice and consent of the Senate. The governor must inform the legislature each time she or he grants a pardon, along with the reason for doing so.

Other duties and privileges of the office include:

• issuing and authorizing all commissions and grants made by the state

• calling extraordinary sessions of the legislature

• adjourning either regular or extraordinary sessions of the legislature when the two houses are unable to pass a concurrent resolution to adjourn

• filling vacancies in the offices of Treasurer of State, Secretary of State, Auditor of State, and Attorney General, as well as any other offices that become vacant without an explicit legal course for filling the vacancy

Divisions

Note: Ballotpedia's state executive officials project researches state official websites for information that describes the divisions (if any exist) of a state executive office. That information for the Governor of Arkansas has not yet been added. After extensive research we were unable to identify any relevant information on state official websites. If you have any additional information about this office for inclusion on this section and/or page, please email us.

State budget

Role in state budget

See also: Arkansas state budget and finances

The state operates on a biennial budget cycle. The sequence of key events in the budget process is as follows:

1. Budget instructions are sent to state agencies in May of the year preceding the start of the new biennium.
2. State agencies submit their budget requests to the governor in July.
3. The governor submits his or her proposed budget to the state legislature in November.
4. The state legislature adopts a budget between January and April. The budget must be passed by a three-fourths majority.
5. The fiscal year begins July 1.

Arkansas is one of 44 states in which the governor has line item veto authority.

The governor is required by statute to submit a balanced budget. The legislature is not legally required to pass a balanced budget.

Governor's office budget

The budget for the Office of the Arkansas Governor in Fiscal Year 2024 was $6,516,625.

Compensation

See also: Comparison of gubernatorial salaries and Compensation of state executive officers

The compensation of all state constitutional officers is set by Amendment 70 to the Arkansas Constitution, which was amended in 2014 by Arkansas voters who passed the Elected Officials Ethics, Transparency and Financial Reform Amendment. A commission was established under this amendment to set and approve new salaries for public officials in Arkansas.

2022

In 2022, the officer's salary was $158,739, according to the Council of State Governments.

2021

In 2021, the governor received a salary of $154,115, according to the Council of State Governments.

2020

In 2020, the governor's salary was $151,838, according to the Council of State Governments.

2019

In 2019, the governor's salary was $148,134, according to the Council of State Governments.

2018

In 2018, the governor's salary was $141,000, according to the Council of State Governments.

2017

In 2017, the governor's salary was $141,000, according to the Council of State Governments.

2016

In 2016, the governor's salary was increased by over $50,000 from the 2015 rate to $141,000, according to the Council of State Governments. The governor's salary was raised by a panel put together in response to a voter-approved referendum. Some on the panel criticized the majority, saying that they ignored public opposition to the plan. The five members of the commission who voted for the raise responded that they had followed the text of the amendment that had set up the commission and that "the vast of majority of people [in Arkansas] that are not commenting are reasonably comfortable and satisfied with this."

2015

In 2015, the governor's salary was increased to $87,759, according to the Council of State Governments.

2014

In 2014, the governor received a salary of $86,890, according to the Council of State Governments.

2013

In 2013, the governor's salary was $86,890.

2010

In 2010, the governor was paid $87,352, the 49th highest gubernatorial salary in America at the time.

History

The first Arkansas Constitution, ratified in 1836, established four-year terms for governors and the requirement that they be residents of the state for 10 years before election. The fifth constitution in 1874, following the American Civil War and Reconstruction, limited the executive's power while lowering gubernatorial terms to two years and changing the residency requirement to seven years. Amendment 63 to the Arkansas Constitution, passed in 1984, increased the terms of both the governor and lieutenant governor to four years. A referendum in 1992 limited a governor to two consecutive four-year terms.

Partisan balance 1992-2013

See also: Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States and Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Arkansas

Partisan breakdown of the Arkansas legislature from 1992-2013

From 1992-2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Arkansas State House of Representatives for the first 21 years while the Republicans were the majority for the last year. The Arkansas State House is one of 18 state Houses that was Democratic for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992-2013. The final year of the study depicted a shift in the Arkansas House of Representatives which changed to Republican control for the first time.

Across the country, there were 577 Democratic and 483 Republican State Houses of Representatives from 1992 to 2013.

Over the course of the 22-year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states had divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied.

The chart below shows the partisan composition of the Office of the Governor of Arkansas, the Arkansas State Senate and the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1992 to 2013.

SQLI and partisanship

The chart below depicts the partisanship of the Arkansas state government and the state's SQLI ranking for the years studied. For the SQLI, the states were ranked from 1-50, with 1 being the best and 50 the worst. Arkansas has never had a Republican trifecta, but did have two Democratic trifectas, between 1992 and 1996 and also between 2007 and 2011. Arkansas has ranked in the bottom-10 of the SQLI ranking for each year of the study. Its highest ranking (41st) occurred in the early 1990s under a Democratic trifecta, while its worst ranking (47th) occurred in 1999 and 2000 under divided government. 2013 was the first year in which Arkansas’s divided government included a Democratic governor and Republican legislature. In all other years of divided government, Arkansas had a Republican governor and a Democratic legislature.

• SQLI average with Democratic trifecta: 43.18
• SQLI average with Republican trifecta: N/A
• SQLI average with divided government: 45.30

Chart displaying the partisanship of Arkansas government from 1992-2013 and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI).

Historical officeholders

There have been 47 governors in the history of Arkansas. Of these governors, nine have been Republican and 38 have been Democratic.

#	Name	Term	Party
1	James Sevier Conway	September 13, 1836-November 4, 1840	Democratic
2	Archibald Yell	November 4, 1840-April 29, 1844	Democratic
Acting	Samuel Adams	April 29, 1844-November 5, 1844	Democratic
3	Thomas Stevenson Drew	November 5, 1844-January 10, 1849	Democratic
4	John Selden Roane	January 10, 1849-April 19, 1849	Democratic
Acting	Richard C. Byrd	April 19, 1849-November 15, 1852	Democratic
5	Elias Nelson Conway	November 15, 1852-November 16, 1860	Democratic
6	Henry Massey Rector	November 16, 1860-November 4, 1862	Democratic
7	Harris Flanagin	November 15, 1862-May 26, 1865	Democratic
8	Isaac Murphy	April 18, 1864-July 2, 1868	Republican
9	Powell Clayton	July 2, 1868-March 17, 1871	Republican
Acting	Ozra A. Hadley	March 17, 1871-January 6, 1873	Republican
10	Elisha Baxter	January 6, 1873-November 12, 1874	Republican
11	Augustus H. Garland	November 12, 1874-January 11, 1877	Democratic
12	William R. Miller	January 11, 1877-January 13, 1881	Democratic
13	Thomas J. Churchill	January 13, 1881-January 13, 1883	Democratic
14	James H. Berry	January 13, 1883-January 15, 1885	Democratic
15	Simon P. Hughes, Jr.	January 15, 1885-January 17, 1889	Democratic
16	James P. Eagle	January 17, 1889-January 14, 1893	Democratic
17	William M. Fishback	January 14, 1893-January 18, 1895	Democratic
18	James P. Clarke	January 18, 1895-January 18, 1897	Democratic
19	Daniel W. Jones	January 18, 1897-January 18, 1901	Democratic
20	Jeff Davis	January 18, 1901-January 18, 1907	Democratic
21	John S. Little	January 18, 1907-February 7, 1907	Democratic
Acting	John Isaac Moore	1907	Democratic
Acting	Xenophon O. Pindall	1907-1909	Democratic
Acting	Jesse M. Martin	1909	Democratic
22	George Washington Donaghey	January 14, 1909-January 16, 1913	Democratic
23	Joseph T. Robinson	January 16, 1913-March 10, 1913	Democratic
Acting	William Kavanaugh Oldham	1913	Democratic
Acting	Junius Marion Futrell	1913	Democratic
24	George Washington Hays	August 16, 1913-January 10, 1917	Democratic
25	Charles H. Brough	January 10, 1917-January 12, 1921	Democratic
26	Thomas C. McRae	January 12, 1921-January 14, 1925	Democratic
27	Thomas Jefferson Terral	January 14, 1925-January 11, 1927	Democratic
28	John E. Martineau	January 11, 1927-March 4, 1928	Democratic
29	Harvey Parnell	March 4, 1928-January 10, 1933	Democratic
30	Junius Marion Futrell	January 10, 1933-January 12, 1937	Democratic
31	Carl E. Bailey	January 12, 1937-January 14, 1941	Democratic
32	Homer M. Adkins	January 14, 1941-January 9, 1945	Democratic
33	Benjamin T. Laney	January 9, 1945-January 11, 1949	Democratic
34	Sid McMath	January 11, 1949-January 13, 1953	Democratic
35	Francis A. Cherry	January 13, 1953-January 11, 1955	Democratic
36	Orval A. Faubus	January 11, 1955-January 10, 1967	Democratic
37	Winthrop Rockefeller	January 10, 1967-January 12, 1971	Republican
38	Dale Bumpers	January 12, 1971-January 2, 1975	Democratic
39	David H. Pryor	January 14, 1975-January 3, 1979	Democratic
40	Bill Clinton	January 9, 1979-January 13, 1981	Democratic
41	Frank D. White	January 19, 1981-January 11, 1983	Republican
42	Bill Clinton	January 11, 1983-December 12, 1992	Democratic
43	Jim Guy Tucker	December 12, 1992-July 15, 1996	Democratic
44	Mike Huckabee	July 15, 1996-January 9, 2007	Republican
45	Mike Beebe	January 9, 2007-January 13, 2015	Democratic
46	Asa Hutchinson	January 13, 2015-January 10, 2023	Republican
47	Sarah Huckabee Sanders	January 10, 2023-present	Republican

State profile

Demographic data for Arkansas
	Arkansas	U.S.
Total population:	2,977,853	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	52,035	3,531,905
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) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Arkansas. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Arkansas

Arkansas voted Republican in all six presidential elections between 2000 and 2020.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, one is located in Arkansas, accounting for 0.5 percent of the total pivot counties.

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Arkansas had one Retained Pivot County, 0.55 percent of all Retained Pivot Counties.

More Arkansas coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in Arkansas
• United States congressional delegations from Arkansas
• Public policy in Arkansas
• Endorsers in Arkansas
• Arkansas fact checks
• More...

Contact information

State Capitol Room 250
500 Woodlane Ave.
Little Rock, AR 72201
Phone: 501-682-2345

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• Governor of Arkansas website
• Arkansas.gov Official Arkansas website