Arkansas Attorney General election, 2014
 | |
May 20, 2014 | |
November 4, 2014 | |
Leslie Rutledge | |
Dustin McDaniel | |
 | |
Governor • Lieutenant Governor Secretary of State • Attorney General Down Ballot Treasurer, Auditor | |
 | |
The Arkansas Attorney General election took place on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Dustin McDaniel (D) was term-limited and unable to seek re-election.
The attorney general's race generated a competitive Republican primary and a three-way race to the general election. Leslie Rutledge emerged from the Republican field to win the party's nomination. Rutledge went on to defeat Democrat Nate Steel and Libertarian Aaron Cash. Learn more about the primary election and issues in the general election in the race background section.
This office was held by McDaniel, a Democrat, for two terms. Rutledge's 2014 win turned the office over to Republican control. Learn more about recent elections for the office by jumping to the past elections section.
The primary election was held on May 20, 2014, followed by a primary runoff election on June 10, 2014.
A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Arkansas utilizes an open primary system. Registered voters do not have to be members of a party to vote in that party's primary.[1][2]
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.
Candidates
General election
Leslie Rutledge[3]
Nate Steel[4]
Aaron Cash[5]
Did not file for office
Dustin McDaniel - Incumbent
Lost in the runoff
Lost in the primary
Results
General election
| Attorney General of Arkansas, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Leslie Rutledge |
51.6% | 430,799 | |
| Democratic | Nate Steel | 43.2% | 360,680 | |
| Libertarian | Aaron Cash | 5.2% | 43,245 | |
| Total Votes | 834,724 | |||
| Election results via Arkansas Secretary of State | ||||
Runoff
| Arkansas Attorney General, Republican Primary Runoff, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
| Leslie Rutledge |
58.9% | 43,898 | ||
| David Sterling | 41.1% | 30,643 | ||
| Total Votes | 74,541 | |||
| Election results via Arkansas Secretary of State. | ||||
Primary election
Republican primary
| Arkansas Attorney General, Republican Primary, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
| Leslie Rutledge |
47.2% | 79,347 | ||
| David Sterling |
39.1% | 65,733 | ||
| Patricia Nation | 13.7% | 22,986 | ||
| Total Votes | 168,066 | |||
| Election results via Arkansas Secretary of State. | ||||
Democratic primary
- Uncontested
Race background
In December 2013, the attorney general race was given its second consecutive "toss-up" rating by Governing. In March 2013, the open seat—held by term-limited Democrat Dustin McDaniel—was first rated vulnerable to partisan switch in the 2014 elections. Shortly before the March rating came out, McDaniel admitted to an extramarital affair in his attorney general tenure. As a result, McDaniel ended a long-anticipated campaign for the governor's office, which was open in 2014 due to incumbent Gov. Mike Beebe hitting term limits.[9]
Ballot access for political parties
In Arkansas, the process to establish a political party is tied to the votes cast in a presidential or gubernatorial election. In order to initially put candidates on the ballot, political parties must submit a petition with 10,000 signatures. Then, in order to maintain that status beyond the election year in which they submit such a petition, their candidate for governor or president must receive at least three percent of the votes cast for that office.[10][11]
In 2012, both the Libertarian and Green parties of Arkansas qualified to put candidates on the ballot, but then their candidates did not receive enough votes for the parties to maintain their ballot status. In the fall of 2013, both parties submitted new petitions and were qualified to put candidates on the 2014 ballot.[12][13][14] In order to maintain their status as political parties without needing to petition for the 2016 elections, their candidates for governor needed to receive at least 3 percent of the vote. Frank Gilbert (L) received 1.9 percent of the gubernatorial vote, and Josh Drake (G) earned 1.1 percent of the vote.[15]
Primary election
Five candidates—three Republican, one Democratic and one Libertarian—filed for the election to replace McDaniel. A primary was held on May 20 to decide which of the three Republican hopefuls would move on to the general election with the party's nomination. Neither Leslie Rutledge nor David Sterling, both lawyers from Little Rock, received a sufficient share of the vote to avoid a primary runoff election on June 10.
Rutledge and Sterling both ran on their legal resumes and past efforts to support conservative causes. Rutledge said she was “the only one with experience fighting crime, the only one with experience fighting the overreaching federal government.” Sterling, meanwhile, said his federal court experience made him the superior candidate. “The AG’s office is essentially Arkansas’ largest law firm, and I think that the voters want a serious and responsible and experienced attorney leading that law firm,” Sterling said.[16]
Rutledge ultimately defeated Sterling in the Republican primary runoff, earning over 58 percent of the vote.[17] She faced unopposed Democratic nominee Nate Steel and Libertarian Aaron Cash in the general election on November 4.
Questions over Rutledge's voter registration
In late September, Pulaski County Clerk Larry Crane (D) revoked Rutledge's voter registration because she was also registered in Washington, D.C., and Virginia. Rutledge criticized Crane's decision as a political maneuver and said in an interview with the Arkansas News Bureau, "There are consequences related to gender when it comes to women in politics, particularly, we know, when they run for traditionally quote-unquote masculine offices, and the attorney general's office is one of those."[18][18][19]
Polls
| Attorney General of Arkansas | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Leslie Rutledge (R) | Nate Steel (D) | Aaron Cash (L) | Undecided | Margin of error | Sample size | |||||||||||||
| Public Policy Polling September 18-21, 2014 | 41% | 35% | 7% | 17% | +/-2.6 | 1,453 | |||||||||||||
| Public Policy Polling August 1-3, 2014 | 38% | 32% | 10% | 20% | +/-3 | 1,066 | |||||||||||||
| AVERAGES | 39.5% | 33.5% | 8.5% | 18.5% | +/-2.8 | 1,259.5 | |||||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
Past elections
2010
| Attorney General of Arkansas, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Dustin McDaniel Incumbent |
72.8% | 525,940 | |
| Green | Rebekah Kennedy | 26.8% | 193,658 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.4% | 3,216 | |
| Total Votes | 722,814 | |||
| Election results via Arkansas Secretary of State | ||||
2006
| Attorney General of Arkansas, 2006 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Dustin McDaniel |
58.5% | 443,476 | |
| Republican | Gunner DeLay | 37.1% | 281,598 | |
| Green | Rebekah Kennedy | 4.4% | 33,386 | |
| Total Votes | 758,460 | |||
Campaign finance
Comprehensive donor information for this election has been collected by Follow the Money. Based on available campaign finance records, the candidates raised a total of $2,147,533 during the election. This information was last updated on May 11, 2015.[20]
| Campaign Contribution Totals | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Office | Result | Contributions | |
| Nate Steel |
Arkansas Attorney General | $1,123,093 | ||
| Leslie Rutledge |
Arkansas Attorney General | $790,751 | ||
| David Sterling |
Arkansas Attorney General | $210,493 | ||
| Patricia Nation |
Arkansas Attorney General | $22,980 | ||
| Aaron Cash |
Arkansas Attorney General | $216 | ||
| Grand Total Raised | $2,147,533 | |||
Key deadlines
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| March 3, 2014 | Candidate filing deadline |
| May 20, 2014 | Primary election |
| June 10, 2014 | Primary runoff election |
| November 4, 2014 | General election |
| November 19, 2014 | Deadline for the county board of election commissioners to certify election results |
| January 13, 2015 | Inauguration day for state executive officials in general election |
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Arkansas + Attorney + General + Election + 2014"
See also
- Arkansas Attorney General
- Arkansas state executive official elections, 2014
- State executive official elections, 2014
- Preview of 2014's most competitive down ballot state executive races
External links
- Office of the Attorney General of Arkansas
- Governing's What's Ahead for the Attorney General Races in 2014?
Footnotes
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures Website, "State Primary Election Types," accessed April 3, 2023
- ↑ Ballotpedia research conducted December 26, 2013, through January 3, 2014, researching and analyzing various state websites and codes.
- ↑ Leslie Rutledge, "Campaign website," accessed August 12, 2013
- ↑ Nate Steel Attorney General, "Campaign website," accessed August 12, 2013
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "2014 Preferential Primary Elections & Non Partisan General Election, Aaron Scott Cash," accessed March 3, 2014
- ↑ David Sterling Attorney General, "Campaign website," accessed August 12, 2013
- ↑ Lexington Herald-Leader, "Attorney announces for Arkansas attorney general," January 30, 2014
- ↑ Talkbusiness.net, "Tolbert: Nation Set To Announce For Attorney General," January 30, 2014
- ↑ Governing, "The 2013-2014 Attorneys General Races: Who's Vulnerable?" March 25, 2013
- ↑ Arkansas Code, "Title 7, Section 1-101-21," accessed December 3, 2013
- ↑ Arkansas House Bill 2036, "An Act To Amend the Law Concerning Certain Procedural Dates In Election; To Amend the Law Concerning Certain Petitions; And For Other Purposes," Approved April 18, 2013
- ↑ Libertarian Party of Arkansas Website, "History of the Libertarian Party of Arkansas," accessed December 5, 2013
- ↑ Green Party of Arkansas Website, "Ballot Access," accessed December 5, 2013
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State Mark Martin, "New Political Party Petition--Green Party," November 6, 2013
- ↑ UALR Public Radio, "Poll: Ross, Hutchinson In Virtual Dead Heat In Governor’s Race," April 6, 2014
- ↑ Arkansas News, "GOP attorney general hopefuls to face off in Tuesday’s runoff election," June 7, 2014
- ↑ newsobserver.com, "Rutledge wins GOP nomination for attorney general," June 10, 2014
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Times Record, "Election 2014: Arkansas AG Candidate Claims Gender Bias," October 5, 2014
- ↑ Times Record, "Ethics Complaint Against Arkansas Attorney General Dismissed," January 24, 2015
- ↑ Follow the Money, "Overview of Arkansas 2014 elections," accessed May 11, 2015
 |
State of Arkansas Little Rock (capital) |
|---|---|
| Elections |
What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2025 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures |
| Government |
Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy |