Leslie Rutledge

Leslie Rutledge

Republican Party

Candidate, Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas

Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas

Tenure

2023 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

2

Predecessor

Tim Griffin

Prior offices

Attorney General of Arkansas

Successor: Tim Griffin

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Compensation

Base salary

$46,705

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 8, 2022

Next election

November 3, 2026

Education

Bachelor's

University of Arkansas, 1998

Law

University of Arkansas, Little Rock, 2001

Personal

Profession

Attorney

Contact

Official website

Official Twitter

Official Instagram

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Leslie Rutledge (Republican Party) is the Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas. She assumed office on January 10, 2023. Her current term ends on January 12, 2027.

Rutledge (Republican Party) is running for re-election for Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas. She declared candidacy for the 2026 election.^[source]

Rutledge was also an at-large delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention from Arkansas. Rutledge was one of 16 delegates from Arkansas bound by state party rules to support Donald Trump at the convention.

Biography

Leslie Rutledge earned a B.A. in English from the University of Arkansas in 1998 and a J.D. from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2001. Rutledge's career experience includes working as an attorney with The Rutledge Firm, PLLC, an attorney with the State of Arkansas Division of Children and Family Services, a deputy counsel to the office of former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, and a law clerk to former Arkansas Court of Appeals Judge Josephine Hart.

Political career

Attorney General (2015-2023)

Rutledge assumed office as the Attorney General of Arkansas on January 13, 2015.

Elections

2026

See also: Arkansas lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2026

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas

Incumbent Leslie Rutledge is running in the general election for Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Leslie Rutledge (R)

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
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Endorsements

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2022

See also: Arkansas lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2022

General election

General election for Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas

Leslie Rutledge defeated Kelly Krout and Frank Gilbert in the general election for Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Leslie Rutledge (R)	64.2	577,316
		Kelly Krout (D)	32.1	288,631
		Frank Gilbert (L)	3.7	33,163

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 899,110
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Kelly Krout advanced from the Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Drew Pritt (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas on May 24, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Leslie Rutledge	54.0	183,888
		Jason Rapert	14.7	50,063
		Greg Bledsoe	9.9	33,722
		Joseph Wood	8.6	29,277
		Doyle Webb	6.8	23,188
		Chris Bequette	6.0	20,411

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 340,549
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas

Frank Gilbert advanced from the Libertarian convention for Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas on February 20, 2022.

		Candidate
✔		Frank Gilbert (L)

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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See also: Arkansas gubernatorial election, 2022

General election

General election for Governor of Arkansas

The following candidates ran in the general election for Governor of Arkansas on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R)	63.0	571,105
		Chris Jones (D)	35.2	319,242
		Ricky Dale Harrington Jr. (L)	1.8	16,690
	Submit photo	Jason Tate (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	0
		Dan Nelson (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	0
	Submit photo	Michael Woodard (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	0
		Elvis Presley (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	0

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 907,037
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Arkansas

Chris Jones defeated Anthony Bland, Jay Martin, James Russell, and Supha Xayprasith-Mays in the Democratic primary for Governor of Arkansas on May 24, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Chris Jones	70.4	66,540
		Anthony Bland	9.6	9,055
		Jay Martin	8.2	7,731
		James Russell	6.8	6,421
		Supha Xayprasith-Mays	5.0	4,725

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 94,472
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Arkansas

Sarah Huckabee Sanders defeated Doc Washburn in the Republican primary for Governor of Arkansas on May 24, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sarah Huckabee Sanders	83.1	289,249
		Doc Washburn	16.9	58,638

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 347,887
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Tim Griffin (R)
• Leslie Rutledge (R)
• Leticia Sanders (R)

Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for Governor of Arkansas

Ricky Dale Harrington Jr. advanced from the Libertarian convention for Governor of Arkansas on February 20, 2022.

		Candidate
✔		Ricky Dale Harrington Jr. (L)

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2018

See also: Arkansas Attorney General election, 2018

General election

General election for Attorney General of Arkansas

Incumbent Leslie Rutledge defeated Mike Lee and Kerry Hicks in the general election for Attorney General of Arkansas on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Leslie Rutledge (R)	61.8	549,668
		Mike Lee (D)	35.4	315,099
		Kerry Hicks (L)	2.8	24,652

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 889,419
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Attorney General of Arkansas

Mike Lee advanced from the Democratic primary for Attorney General of Arkansas on May 22, 2018.

		Candidate
✔		Mike Lee

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Attorney General of Arkansas

Incumbent Leslie Rutledge advanced from the Republican primary for Attorney General of Arkansas on May 22, 2018.

		Candidate
✔		Leslie Rutledge

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2014

See also: Arkansas attorney general election, 2014

Rutledge ran for election to the office of Arkansas Attorney General. Rutledge sought the Republican nomination in the primary on May 20. She beat David Sterling in the primary runoff on June 10. Rutledge defeated Nate Steel (D) and Aaron Cash (L) in the general election on November 4, 2014.

Results

Primary election

• 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

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.

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

Race background

Information about this election can be found by clicking [show] at the right.

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. Ballot access for political parties See also: Requirements to establish a political party in Arkansas 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. 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. 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. 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. Rutledge ultimately defeated Sterling in the Republican primary runoff, earning over 58 percent of the vote. 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."

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

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2022

Leslie Rutledge did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

Leslie Rutledge did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

Notable endorsements

See also: Ballotpedia: Our approach to covering endorsements

This section displays endorsements this individual made in elections within Ballotpedia's coverage scope.

Notable ballot measure endorsements by Leslie Rutledge

Measure	Position	Outcome
Arkansas Issue 1, Transportation Sales Tax Continuation Amendment (2020)  source	Support	Approved

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Leslie Rutledge campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2022	Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas	Won general	$1,134,386	$813,670
2014	Arkansas Attorney General	Won	$790,751	N/A**
Grand total			$1,925,137	$813,670
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

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Officeholder

Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas

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Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Tim Griffin (R)	Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas 2023-Present	Succeeded by -
Preceded by -	Attorney General of Arkansas 2015-2023	Succeeded by Tim Griffin (R)