Republican candidates in contested races for the Arkansas Legislature continue to lead their Democratic opponents donations from PACs and lobbyists.
Arkansas Business reviewed the financial disclosure reports of the candidates in 38 races — four for state Senate and 34 for House — filed through September.
The donations included in the totals were from registered PACs, those registered or associated with PACs, registered lobbyists and those registered or associated with lobbyists.
The totals do not include monetary donations in contested races for House of Representatives Districts 15, 51, 80 and 95, because not all of the candidates’ financial disclosure reports were available on the Arkansas Secretary of State website. Donations made directly from county and state political party PACs were also excluded.
Through September, more than $1.1 million has been donated from PACs and lobbyists. Republicans have received more than $606,000 and Democrats have received more than $577,000.
The largest donor continues to be the Arkansas Health Care Association, the statewide association of nursing homes, which has pumped $89,000 into races through its various PACs.
Other notable donors have been Wholesale Beer Distributors of Arkansas, American Electric Power, Arkansas Realtors Association, Southwestern Energy Co., Nucor Corp. the Cranford Coalition, Koch Industries and Acxiom Corp. of Little Rock.
Various entities of Stephens Inc. of Little Rock have also been active this election season with more than $50,000 in donations through September. That’s compared to a combined $31,250 from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of Bentonville ($22,250) and Tyson Foods Inc. of Springdale ($9,000).
Jim Walton — chairman and CEO of the Arvest Bank Group Inc., a member of the Wal-Mart board of directors and a client of lobbyist Stacy Consulting LLC of Bentonville — has donated $15,500 to various campaigns.
Below is an interactive graph that shows various notable donors and their contributions to Republican and Democrat candidates in contested state legislative races.