Elections Are Coming – Ready Or Not
Several people have already announced they will be candidates for office in 2020. One of the first to announce for an Arkansas Senate seat was Representative Dan Sullivan of Jonesboro. Sullivan will seek to defeat incumbent Senator John Cooper in the Republican primary.
It is not just Republicans who are lining up to run for office, several Democrats have also announced candidacies for various offices including one Democrat who wants to take on U.S. Senator Tom Cotton.
Not all offices will be up for election in 2020.
- Federal. The big election of 2020 will be the election of the President of the United States where even many Democrat strategists have begun to say President Trump will win. U.S. Senator Tom Cotton will be up for reelection as well as all four congressmen: Rick Crawford, French Hill, Steve Womack, and Bruce Westerman. (All of Arkansas’ congressional delegation are Republicans.) U.S. Senator John Bozeman is in the middle of a term and will not be up for election until 2022.
- State officers. None of Arkansas’ state constitutional offices will be up for election in 2020. The Governor, Lt. Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Treasurer of State, Auditor of State, and Land Commissioner will not be up for reelection until 2022.
- State Legislature. All 100 seats in the Arkansas House of Representatives and approximately half of the 35 seats in the Arkansas Senate will be up for election.
- Many but not all judicial offices will be on the ballot.
- County officers. County officers will not be up for election because they now have four-year terms and will be elected in 2022, however, county quorum court positions will be up for election.
- Municipal officers. Various municipal offices will be on the ballot.
- School district officers. School elections will also be held during 2020.
2022 Election Even More Significant In Arkansas
While the 2020 election will bring some hotly contested races and will feature the presidential election, if you are looking for change in the state of Arkansas, the election to watch is the 2022 election.
First, the state constitutional offices will be on the ballot. In addition, because constitutional officers are limited to two four-year terms there will be no incumbent for the office of Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, Auditor of State, and Treasurer of State.
Second, but just as important, will be the redrawing of new districts for the four congressional districts, the Arkansas House of Representatives, and the Arkansas Senate. Some incumbent legislators will be more vulnerable to defeat in 2022 because they will be running in a district that is different from the district they successfully ran from in the past. Normally state senators serve a four-year term but those elected in 2020 will only serve a two-year term and all state senators will have to run again in 2022. So senate terms will be staggered, after the 2022 election state senators will draw and receive either a four-year term or a two-year term. This means Senators elected in 2020 will have to run again in 2022 along with all other Senators and if they draw a two-year term will have to run again in 2024.
Together the 2020 and 2022 elections will be huge in determining Arkansas’ future. If you have not been politically active it is time to get active. If you were active in the past but dropped out due to disappointment with the continued big government direction of the state, it is time to become active again.
