Arkansas State Senate elections, 2014

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Arkansas State Senate elections, 2014

Majority control • Qualifications

List of candidates District 3 • District 4 • District 5 • District 6 • District 8 • District 9 • District 10 • District 14 • District 15 • District 17 • District 18 • District 19 • District 20 • District 24 • District 30 • District 31 • District 33 • District 35

State Legislative Election Results

Arkansas State Senate • 2014 Arkansas House Elections

Elections for the Arkansas State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on May 20, 2014; a runoff election took place on June 10, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 3, 2014.

Following the general election, there was no change to the majority control of the Arkansas State Senate. The Republican Party strengthened their hold on the chamber, increasing their seats from 21 to 24. The Democratic Party lost two seats, going from 13 to 11 seats.

Incumbents retiring

Two incumbents did not run for re-election in 2014. Those incumbents were:

Name	Party	Current Office
Johnny Key	Republican	Senate District 17
David Wyatt	Democratic	Senate District 19

Majority control

See also: Partisan composition of state senates

Heading into the November 4 election, the Republican Party held the majority in the Arkansas State Senate:

Arkansas State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2014	After November 4, 2014
	Democratic Party	13	11
	Republican Party	21	24
	Vacancy	1	0
Total		35	35

Qualifications

Candidate ballot access
Find detailed information on ballot access requirements in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

Article 5, Section 4 of the Arkansas Constitution states: No person shall be a Senator or Representative who, at the time of his election, is not a citizen of the United States, nor any one who has not been for two years next preceding his election, a resident of this State, and for one year next preceding his election, a resident of the county or district whence he may be chosen. Senators shall be at least twenty-five years of age, and Representatives at least twenty-one years of age.

Competitiveness

Candidates unopposed by a major party

In 15 of the 18 districts up for election in 2014, there was only one major party candidate running for election. A total of five Democrats and 10 Republicans were guaranteed election barring unforeseen circumstances.

Two major party candidates faced off in the general election in three of the 18 districts up for election.

• District 19: State Rep. James McLean (D) was defeated by former State Rep. Linda Collins-Smith (R) in the general election for the seat previously held by David Wyatt (D). Wyatt won with a margin of victory of 2 percent in 2012.
• District 20: Incumbent Robert Thompson (D) was defeated by Blake Johnson (R) in the general election. Thompson defeated Johnson by a margin of victory of 2 percent in 2012.
• District 35: Incumbent Jason Rapert (R) defeated Joel Pearson (D) in the general election. Rapert won by a margin of victory of 9 percent in 2012.

Primary challenges

A total of three incumbents faced primary competition on May 20. Two incumbents did not seek re-election in 2014 and another 13 incumbents advanced past the primary without opposition. The state senators facing primary competition were:

• District 9: Terry Rice defeated incumbent Bruce Holland (R) in the Republican primary.
• District 14: Incumbent Bill Sample (R) defeated Jerry Neal in the Republican primary.
• District 18: Incumbent Missy Irvin (R) defeated Phil Grace in the Republican primary.

Retiring incumbents

Two incumbent senators did not run for re-election, while 16 (88.9%) ran for re-election. A list of those incumbents, one Democrat and one Republican, can be found above.

List of candidates

District 3

May 20 Democratic primary:

• No candidates filed.

May 20 Republican primary:

• Cecile Bledsoe a - Incumbent Bledsoe was first elected to the chamber in 2008.

November 4 General election candidates:

Cecile Bledsoe

District 4

May 20 Democratic primary:

• Uvalde Lindsey a - Incumbent Lindsey was first elected to the chamber in 2012.

May 20 Republican primary:

• No candidates filed.

November 4 General election candidates:

Uvalde Lindsey

District 5

May 20 Democratic primary:

• No candidates filed.

May 20 Republican primary:

• Bryan B. King a - Incumbent King was first elected to the chamber in 2012.

November 4 General election candidates:

Bryan B. King

District 6

May 20 Democratic primary:

• No candidates filed.

May 20 Republican primary:

• Gary Stubblefield a - Incumbent Stubblefield was first elected to the chamber in 2012.

November 4 General election candidates:

Gary Stubblefield

District 8

May 20 Democratic primary:

• No candidates filed.

May 20 Republican primary:

• Jake C. Files a - Incumbent Files was first elected to the chamber in 2010.

November 4 General election candidates:

Jake C. Files

District 9

May 20 Democratic primary:

• No candidates filed.

May 20 Republican primary:

• Bruce Holland: 2,711 - Incumbent Holland was first elected to the chamber in 2010.
• Terry Rice: 3,458 a

November 4 General election candidates:

Terry Rice

District 10

May 20 Democratic primary:

• Larry Teague a - Incumbent Teague was first elected to the chamber in 2008.

May 20 Republican primary:

• No candidates filed.

November 4 General election candidates:

Larry Teague

District 14

May 20 Democratic primary:

• No candidates filed.

May 20 Republican primary:

• Bill Sample: 5,734 a - Incumbent Sample was first elected to the chamber in 2010.
• Jerry Neal: 4,668

Independent candidates:

• George Pritchett

November 4 General election candidates:

Bill Sample: 20,547

George Pritchett: 8,299

District 15

May 20 Democratic primary:

• No candidates filed.

May 20 Republican primary:

• David J. Sanders a - Incumbent Sanders was first elected to the chamber in 2012.

November 4 General election candidates:

David J. Sanders

District 17

Note: District 17 was vacant heading into the general election due to the resignation of Johnny Key (R).

May 20 Democratic primary:

• No candidates filed.

May 20 Republican primary:

• Scott Flippo: 3,722 a
• John Burris: 3,785 a
• David L. Osmon: 1,373

June 10 Republican runoff:

• Scott Flippo: 3,920 a
• John Burris: 3,716

November 4 General election candidates:

Scott Flippo

District 18

May 20 Democratic primary:

• No candidates filed.

May 20 Republican primary:

• Phil Grace: 3,604
• Missy Irvin: 6,450 a - Incumbent Irvin was first elected to the chamber in 2010.

November 4 General election candidates:

Missy Irvin

District 19

Note: Incumbent David Wyatt (D) did not run for re-election.

May 20 Democratic primary:

• James McLean a

May 20 Republican primary:

• Linda Collins-Smith a

November 4 General election candidates:

James McLean: 10,481

Linda Collins-Smith: 14,647

District 20

May 20 Democratic primary:

• Robert Thompson a - Incumbent Thompson was first elected to the chamber in 2006.

May 20 Republican primary:

• Blake Johnson a

November 4 General election candidates:

Robert Thompson: 10,405

Blake Johnson: 12,096

District 24

May 20 Democratic primary:

• Keith Ingram a - Incumbent Ingram was first elected to the chamber in 2012.

May 20 Republican primary:

• No candidates filed.

November 4 General election candidates:

Keith Ingram

District 30

May 20 Democratic primary:

• Linda Chesterfield a - Chesterfield was first elected to the chamber in 2010.

May 20 Republican primary:

• No candidates filed.

November 4 General election candidates:

Linda Chesterfield

District 31

May 20 Democratic primary:

• Joyce Elliott a - Incumbent Elliott was first elected to the chamber in 2008.

May 20 Republican primary:

• No candidates filed.

November 4 General election candidates:

Joyce Elliott

District 33

May 20 Democratic primary:

• No candidates filed.

May 20 Republican primary:

• Jeremy Hutchinson a - Incumbent Hutchinson was first elected to the chamber in 2010.

November 4 General election candidates:

Jeremy Hutchinson

District 35

May 20 Democratic primary:

• Joel "Tyler" Pearson a

May 20 Republican primary:

• Jason Rapert a - Incumbent Rapert was first elected to the chamber in 2010.

November 4 General election candidates:

Joel "Tyler" Pearson: 10,276

Jason Rapert: 13,488

See also

• Arkansas State Senate
• Arkansas State Legislature
• State legislative elections, 2014

External links

• Arkansas Secretary of State - Official candidate list
• Arkansas Secretary of State - Official primary election results
• Arkansas Secretary of State - Official primary runoff election results
• Arkansas Secretary of State - Official 2014 General and runoff election results

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Current members of the Arkansas State Senate

Leadership

Majority Leader:Blake Johnson

Minority Leader:Greg Leding

Senators

District 1

Ben Gilmore (R)

District 2

Matt Stone (R)

District 3

Steve Crowell (R)

District 4

Jimmy Hickey (R)

District 5

Terry Rice (R)

District 6

Matt McKee (R)

District 7

Alan Clark (R)

District 8

Stephanie Flowers (D)

District 9

Reginald Murdock (D)

District 10

Ronald Caldwell (R)

District 11

Ricky Hill (R)

District 12

Jamie Scott (D)

District 13

Jane English (R)

District 14

Clarke Tucker (D)

District 15

Fredrick Love (D)

District 16

Kim Hammer (R)

District 17

Mark Johnson (R)

District 18

Jonathan Dismang (R)

District 19

Dave Wallace (R)

District 20

Dan Sullivan (R)

District 21

Blake Johnson (R)

District 22

John Payton (R)

District 23

Scott Flippo (R)

District 24

Missy Irvin (R)

District 25

Breanne Davis (R)

District 26

Gary Stubblefield (R)

District 27

Justin Boyd (R)

District 28

Bryan King (R)

District 29

Jim Petty (R)

District 30

Greg Leding (D)

District 31

Clint Penzo (R)

District 32

Joshua Bryant (R)

District 33

Bart Hester (R)

District 34

Jim Dotson (R)

District 35

Tyler Dees (R)

Republican Party (29)

Democratic Party (6)