2020 Arkansas Senate election

2020 Arkansas Senate election
17 of 35 seats in the Arkansas Senate; 18 seats needed for a majority
	Results of the elections:; Republican gain; Democratic hold Republican hold; No election

The 2020 Arkansas Senate elections took place as part of the biennial 2020 United States elections. Arkansas voters elected state senators to the Arkansas Senate in 17 of the state's 35 senate districts. The primary elections on March 3, 2020, determined which candidates would appear on the November 3, 2020, general election ballot.

The outcome of this election was identified by the National Conference of State Legislatures as one of many that could affect partisan balance during post-Census redistricting.^[1]

Following the previous election in 2018, Republicans, led by Bart Hester (AR-01), had control of the Arkansas Senate with 26 seats to Democrats, led by Keith Ingram (AR-24), with nine seats. In the 2020 cycle, Republicans made a net gain of two seats, defeating two incumbent Democratic senators, bringing the partisan balance to a 28-7 supermajority.

Composition

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)		Total

	Republican	Democratic		Vacant
Before Election	26	9	35	0
After Election	28	7	35	0
Change	2	2

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report^[2]	Safe R	October 21, 2020

Summary

District	Incumbent		Elected Senator
1st	Bart Hester	Rep	Bart Hester	Rep
2nd	Jim Hendren	Rep	Jim Hendren	Rep
7th	Lance Eads	Rep	Lance Eads^[a]	Rep
11th	Jimmy Hickey Jr.	Rep	Jimmy Hickey Jr.^[a]	Rep
12th	Bruce Maloch	Dem	Charles Beckham	Rep
13th	Alan Clark	Rep	Alan Clark	Rep
16th	Breanne Davis	Rep	Breanne Davis^[a]	Rep
21st	John Cooper^[b]	Rep	Dan Sullivan^[a]	Rep
22nd	Dave Wallace	Rep	Dave Wallace^[a]	Rep
23rd	Ron Caldwell	Rep	Ron Caldwell^[a]	Rep
25th	Stephanie Flowers	Dem	Stephanie Flowers^[a]	Dem
26th	Eddie Cheatham	Dem	Ben Gilmore	Rep
27th	Trent Garner	Rep	Trent Garner	Rep
28th	Jonathan Dismang	Rep	Jonathan Dismang^[a]	Rep
29th	Ricky Hill	Rep	Ricky Hill^[a]	Rep
32nd	Will Bond^[b]	Dem	Clarke Tucker	Dem
34th	Jane English	Rep	Jane English	Rep

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Did not face opposition in the general election.
^ ^a ^b Not up for reelection; therefore this seat is open.

Closest races

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

District 34, 7.52%

Detailed results

District 1 • District 2 • District 7 • District 11 • District 12 • District 13 • District 16 • District 21 • District 22 • District 23 • District 25 • District 26 • District 27 • District 28 • District 29 • District 32 • District 34

District 1

2020 Arkansas Senate election, 1st district^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bart Hester (incumbent)	36,778	64.94%
	Democratic	Ronetta J. Francis	19,855	35.06%
Majority			16,923	29.88%
Total votes			56,633	100%
	Republican hold

District 2

2020 Arkansas Senate election, 2nd district^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jim Hendren (incumbent)	32,705	73.44%
	Democratic	Ryan Craig	11,825	26.56%
Majority			20,880	46.88%
Total votes			44,530	100%
	Republican hold

District 7

2020 Arkansas Senate election, 7th district^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Lance Eads (incumbent)	24,563	100%
Majority			24,563	100%
Total votes			24,563	100%
	Republican hold

District 11

2020 Arkansas Senate election, 11th district^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jimmy Hickey Jr. (incumbent)	21,058	100%
Majority			21,058	100%
Total votes			21,058	100%
	Republican hold

District 12

2020 Arkansas Senate election, 12th district^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Charles Beckham	17,282	55.89%
	Democratic	Bruce Maloch (incumbent)	13,641	44.11%
Majority			3,641	11.78%
Total votes			30,923	100%
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 13

2020 Arkansas Senate election, 13th district^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Alan Clark (incumbent)	26,069	75.19%
	Democratic	Brandon Overly	8,604	24.81%
Majority			17,465	50.38%
Total votes			34,673	100%
	Republican hold

District 16

2020 Arkansas Senate election, 16th district^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Breanne Davis (incumbent)	27,639	100%
Majority			27,639	100%
Total votes			27,639	100%
	Republican hold

District 21

2020 Arkansas Senate election, 21st district^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Sullivan	28,542	100%
Majority			28,542	100%
Total votes			28,542	100%
	Republican hold

District 22

2020 Arkansas Senate election, 22nd district^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dave Wallace (incumbent)	20,406	100%
Majority			20,406	100%
Total votes			20,406	100%
	Republican hold

District 23

2020 Arkansas Senate election, 23rd district^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ronald Caldwell (incumbent)	17,538	100%
Majority			17,538	100%
Total votes			17,538	100%
	Republican hold

District 25

2020 Arkansas Senate election, 25th district^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Stephanie Flowers (incumbent)	19,737	100%
Majority			19,737	100%
Total votes			19,737	100%
	Democratic hold

District 26

2020 Arkansas Senate election, 26th district^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ben Gilmore	17,732	60.06%
	Democratic	Eddie L. Cheatham (incumbent)	11,791	39.94%
Majority			5,941	20.12%
Total votes			29,523	100%
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 27

2020 Arkansas Senate election, 27th district^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Trent Garner (incumbent)	19,892	61.08%
	Democratic	Keidra Burrell	1,267	38.92%
Majority			7,215	22.16%
Total votes			32,569	100%
	Republican hold

District 28

2020 Arkansas Senate election, 28th district^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jonathan Dismang (incumbent)	14,169	100%
Majority			14,169	100%
Total votes			14,169	100%
	Republican hold

District 29

2020 Arkansas Senate election, 29th district^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ricky Hill (incumbent)	31,111	100%
Majority			31,111	100%
Total votes			31,111	100%
	Republican hold

District 32

2020 Arkansas Senate election, 32nd district^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Clarke Tucker	28,481	64.92%
	Republican	Bob Thomas	15,392	35.08%
Majority			13,089	29.84%
Total votes			43,873	100%
	Democratic hold

District 34

2020 Arkansas Senate election, 34th district^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jane English (incumbent)	21,364	53.76%
	Democratic	Alisa Blaize Dixon	18,375	46.24%
Majority			2,989	7.52%
Total votes			39,739	100%
	Republican hold

References

^ Underhill, Wendy; Ben, Williams (December 4, 2019). "Election Dates for Legislators and Governors Who Will Do Redistricting". National Conference of State Legislatures. Archived from the original on June 10, 2018. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
^ "October Overview: Handicapping the 2020 State Legislature Races". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q "Election Night Reporting". Scytl. Archived from the original on February 23, 2021. Retrieved February 20, 2021.

External links

Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association, "Arkansas", Voting & Elections Toolkits
"Arkansas: Election Tools, Deadlines, Dates, Rules, and Links", Vote.org, Oakland, CA
"League of Women Voters of Arkansas". (state affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)
Arkansas at Ballotpedia

[unopposed-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Did not face opposition in the general election.

[outgoing-4] Not up for reelection; therefore this seat is open.

[1] Underhill, Wendy; Ben, Williams (December 4, 2019). "Election Dates for Legislators and Governors Who Will Do Redistricting". National Conference of State Legislatures. Archived from the original on June 10, 2018. Retrieved February 20, 2021.

[cook-october-2] "October Overview: Handicapping the 2020 State Legislature Races". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved November 1, 2020.

[:01-5] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q "Election Night Reporting". Scytl. Archived from the original on February 23, 2021. Retrieved February 20, 2021.

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