For Arkansas’ midterm elections, most of the attention has focused on races for U.S. Senate, governor and a few statewide offices, including lieutenant governor and attorney general.
But there’s more to be decided in the state Legislature.
In the Senate, Republicans will retain a majority, currently at 21-13 with one vacant seat. There are 18 seats up for grabs in this election, but only four of those have contested races, including one with a third-party candidate challenging the incumbent.
Depending on how things shake out, the GOP could hold a 24-11 majority if it sweeps all four races, and a 20-14-1 majority if it loses all four Tuesday.
Two of the more interesting races to watch in the Senate is one for District 19 between Democrat state Rep. James McLean of Batesville and Republican Linda Collins-Smith of Poachontas, a former Democrat and state representative.
In District 20, there’s a rematch between Sen. Robert Thompson, D-Paragould, and Republican challenger Blake Johnson of Corning. In 2012, Thompson defeated Johnson by only 447 votes.
As pointed out by Arkansas Business political columnist Blake Rutherford on Wednesday, there will also be interest from Democrats in how well an “unknown named Tyler Pearson does against the highly publicized Republican incumbent state Sen. Jason Rapert” in District 35.
In District 14, Sen. Bill Sample, R-Hot Springs, faces Independent George Pritchett of Hot Springs.
State House Up For Grabs
The GOP holds the state House 51-48-1. But with 40 seats up in this year’s midterms, both Democrats and Republicans have hopes to hold the majority after Tuesday’s results are in.
There are more than a few seats that both parties are after. Arkansas Business columnist Robert Coon said there are three races in the northeast region of the state to watch:
- District 52 — Radius Baker (D) vs. Dwight Tosh (R)
- District 53 — Rep. Homer Lenderman (D-Brookland) vs. Dan Sullivan (R)
- District 63 — Lackey Moody (D) vs. James Sturch (R)
Coon also said Democrats are also hoping challenger Damon Daniels of Alpine to grab the south Arkansas seat now held by Republican state Rep. Richard Womack of Arkadelphia.
Democrats are also angling for three seats in the northwest part of the state:
- District 84 — Rep. Charlie Collins (R-Fayetteville) vs. Candy Clark (D)
- District 93 — Rep. Jim Dotson (R-Bentonville) vs. Leah Marie Williams (D)
- District 94 — Rebecca Petty (R) vs. Grimsley Graham (D)
Rutherford identified three things Democrats need to do to take back control of the House:
• Protect seats of departing incumbents:
District 19, Jeremy Ross (D) vs. Justin Gonzales (R). Formerly held by Rep. Nate Steel (D-Nashville).
District 35, Clarke Tucker (D) vs. Stacy Hurst (R). Formerly held by Rep. John Edwards (D-Little Rock).
District 41, Danny Knight (D) vs. Karilyn Brown (R). Formerly held by Rep. Jim Nickels (D-Sherwood).
District 63, Lackey Moody (D) vs. James Sturch (R). Formerly held by Rep. James McLean (D-Batesville).
• Protect vulnerable incumbents:
District 53: Rep. Homer Lenderman (D-Brookland), facing Republican Dan Sullivan
District 61: Rep. Scott Baltz (D-Pocahontas), facing Republican Doug Driesel
District 73: Rep. John Catlett (D-Rover), facing Republican Mary Bentley
• Pick up a few more seats. Some races to watch:
District 18: Rep. Richard Womack (R-Arkadelphia) vs. Damon Daniels (D)
District 32: Jim Sorvillo (R) vs. John Adams (D)
District 93: Rep. Jim Dotson (R-Bentonville) vs. Leah Marie Williams (D)
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