"Even for the historically one-party Democratic South, the Democratic Party’s control of Arkansas politics was solid—until the end of the twentieth century. Indeed, from the end of Reconstruction, Republican presidential candidates were denied Electoral College votes every four years until Richard Nixon’s 1972 victory. The Democratic Party’s dominance of state and local elections (outside northwest Arkansas, which had housed Republicans since the Civil War era) was just as impressive. Still, while Democrats have fended off any sustained Republican development, recent trends indicate that the change that has come to other Southern states with the rise of a competitive Republican Party is beginning to occur in Arkansas....
A plurality of Arkansans still identified as Democrats by the early years of the twenty-first century (44.1 percent, according to a 2001 poll), and Democrat Mark Pryor regained the U.S. Senate seat in 2002, but the dominance of just a generation earlier disappeared for the party as races for high-profile offices are typically now close. Also, the fastest growing parts of the state in terms of population are also the most Republican, and young voters entering the state’s electorate also are significantly less likely to support the Democratic Party. However, despite this diminished status, the absence of Republican Party development and candidate recruitment allows Democrats to enjoy distinct advantages in Arkansas politics at the legislative and local level. Indeed, despite the introduction of state legislative term limits that shortened the terms of the mostly Democratic incumbents, at the turn of the century, the Arkansas General Assembly remained one of the most one-party dominated in the country." (Source : The Encyclopedia of Arkansas)
A plurality of Arkansans still identified as Democrats by the early years of the twenty-first century (44.1 percent, according to a 2001 poll), and Democrat Mark Pryor regained the U.S. Senate seat in 2002, but the dominance of just a generation earlier disappeared for the party as races for high-profile offices are typically now close. Also, the fastest growing parts of the state in terms of population are also the most Republican, and young voters entering the state’s electorate also are significantly less likely to support the Democratic Party. However, despite this diminished status, the absence of Republican Party development and candidate recruitment allows Democrats to enjoy distinct advantages in Arkansas politics at the legislative and local level. Indeed, despite the introduction of state legislative term limits that shortened the terms of the mostly Democratic incumbents, at the turn of the century, the Arkansas General Assembly remained one of the most one-party dominated in the country." (Source : The Encyclopedia of Arkansas)
Elections
Office
State
District
Date
U.S. Senator
2004
Lincoln, Blanche (Inc)
Democrat
580,973
Republican
458,036
Other
212
Other
128
U.S. Senator (Primary)
2004
Lincoln, Blanche (Inc)
Democrat
231,037
Democrat
47,010
Republican
37,254
Republican
10,709
Republican
6,078
U.S. Senator
2002
Democrat
433,306
Hutchinson, Tim (Inc)
Republican
370,653
U.S. Senator (Primary)
2002
Hutchinson, Tim (Inc)
Republican
71,576
Republican
20,546
U.S. Senator
1998
Democrat
385,878
Republican
295,870
Reform
18,896
U.S. Senator (Primary)
1998
Democrat
145,009
Democrat
87,183
Democrat
44,761
Democrat
41,848
Republican
42,621
Republican
12,156