| Election Name: | 2010 Arkansas elections |
| Country: | Arkansas |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2006 Arkansas elections |
| Previous Year: | 2006 |
| Next Election: | 2014 Arkansas elections |
| Next Year: | 2014 |
Arkansas's 2010 general elections were held November 2, 2010. Primaries were held May 18, 2010 and runoffs, if necessary, were held November 23, 2010. Arkansas elected seven constitutional officers, 17 of 35 state senate seats, all 100 house seats and 28 district prosecuting attorneys, and voted on one constitutional amendment and one referred question. Non-partisan judicial elections were held the same day as the party primaries for four Supreme Court justices, four appeals circuit court judges, and eight district court judges.
See main article: United States Senate election in Arkansas, 2010.
See also: United States Senate elections, 2010. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln ran unsuccessfully for re-election against Republican John Boozman. Arkansas had previously only elected one Republican senator since the Reconstruction, who was defeated after his first term in 2002 by Mark Pryor. Lincoln faced Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter and narrowly won the primary contest.
The Democratic primary was held on May 18, 2010, with early voting from May 3–17. As no candidate received 50 percent of the vote, a runoff election was held on June 8, with early voting from June 1–7.[1]
The Republican primary was held on May 18, 2010, with early voting from May 3–17.
See main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Arkansas, 2010.
See also: United States House of Representatives elections, 2010. All four of Arkansas's seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 2010. Only one of the four incumbents sought re-election, Democrat Mike Ross of District 4.
This was an open seat, as Democratic incumbent Marion Berry chose to retire. Berry was always reelected in this district by a wide margin since his first reelection campaign in 1998, and was unopposed in 2008. The district is very Republican (giving only 38% to Obama) on a national level despite a long history of electing Democrats to local and state level offices.
This district was represented by seven term Democrat Vic Snyder who was unchallenged in 2008 and received 70% of the vote. Snyder announced that he would retire in 2010, reportedly after polls showed him trailing Republican Tim Griffin.[12]
This district was represented by Republican John Boozman. Boozman ran for the U.S. Senate, against Blanche Lincoln.[13] The district (comprising the northwest part of the state) has been held by the GOP since 1966.
See main article: Arkansas gubernatorial election, 2010.
See also: United States gubernatorial elections, 2010.
Incumbent Mike Beebe won every county in Arkansas with between 52.10% and 85.44% of the votes.[16]
Incumbent Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter ran for Senate and did not seek re-election as Lieutenant Governor.
Democratic incumbent Charlie Daniels was term-limited and instead he ran for State Auditor.
Incumbent Dustin McDaniel won every county in Arkansas with between 59.71% and 88.28% of the votes.[16]
Incumbent Martha Shoffner won every county in Arkansas with between 53.43% and 87.67% of the votes.[16]
Democratic incumbent Jim Wood was term-limited. Charlie Daniels won every county in Arkansas with between 58.52% and 88.51% of the votes.[16]
Democratic incumbent Commissioner Mark Wilcox was term-limited.
Half of the 35 members of the Arkansas Senate were up for election in 2010.
All 100 seats in the Arkansas House of Representatives were up for election in 2010.
Multiple judicial positions were up for election in 2010.
Three statewide ballot questions have been certified:
1. Right to hunt, fish and trap wildlife
2. Establish criteria before authorizing the issuance of bonds
3. Lower the threshold for issuing state bonds to attract major industries
| Amendment 1[17] | Amendment 2[18] | Amendment 3[19] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | ||
| For | 612,495 | 82.78% | 448,711 | 64.20% | 431,724 | 62.35 % | |
| Against | 127,444 | 17.22% | 250,167 | 35.80% | 260,735 | 37.65% | |
| Approved | Approved | Approved | |||||
Many elections for county offices were also held on November 2, 2010.