2018 Arkansas Attorney General election
November 4, 2014 (2014-11-04)
 
Nominee Leslie Rutledge Nate Steel
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 430,799 360,680
Percentage 51.6% 43.2%
County results
Rutledge:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%
Steel:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Attorney General before election

Dustin McDaniel
Democratic

 Elected Attorney General

Leslie Rutledge
Republican

The 2014 Arkansas Attorney General election was held on November 6, 2018, to elect the attorney general of Arkansas.

Republican nominee Leslie Rutledge was elected to the office, the first woman elected to the office and the first Republican to be elected to the office since 1874 (during the reconstruction period). Incumbent Democratic Attorney General Dustin McDaniel was term-limited and could not run for re-election to a third term in office.

Democratic primary

State Representative Nate Steel ran for the Democrats. Attorney Zac White, who had considered running, endorsed Steel and instead ran for the State Senate.[1]

Republican primary

Three attorneys sought the Republican nomination: Patricia Nation,[2] Leslie Rutledge[3] and David Sterling.[4] State Representative Matthew Shepherd, Faulkner County prosecutor J. Cody Hiland and Marvin Childers, a former state representative and president of the lobbying group The Poultry Federation, had considered running, but decided against it.[5][6]

Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size		 Margin of
error		 Patricia
Nation		 Leslie
Rutledge		 David
Sterling		 Undecided
Talk Business/Hendrix College April 29, 2014 1,516 ± 2.5% 10% 9% 21% 60%

Since no candidate won a majority, Rutledge and Sterling contested a runoff,[7] which was characterised as a "full-fledged street brawl." Outside groups spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on attack ads and both candidates "question[ed] each others' conservative credentials and political experience." Nation endorsed Rutledge, who handily defeated Sterling.[8]

Republican primary runoff results[9]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Leslie Rutledge 43,898 58.89
Republican David Sterling 30,643 41.11
Total votes 74,541 100.0

Libertarian Aaron Cash is also running.[10]

General election

In September 2014, Pulaski County Clerk Larry Crane cancelled Rutledge's voter registration after it was revealed that she was registered to vote in several other states. Rutledge, who has an Arkansas voter registration card, had cancelled her Pulaski County voter registration in July 2008 and registered to vote in Washington, D.C. instead. However, she did not vote in any elections in D.C., instead voting via absentee ballot in the 2008 general election in Pulaski County. She then registered to vote in Virginia in September 2010. If she remains unregistered, she would be ineligible to serve as Attorney General as the Arkansas Constitution states "No persons shall be elected to, or appointed to fill a vacancy in, any office who does not possess the qualifications of an elector." Rutledge denounced Crane for using "partisan politics to disenfranchise a voter in an attempt to hijack an election." Crane responded that he "did what the law requires" and invited Rutledge to re-register.[11][12][13]

Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size		 Margin of
error		 Nate
Steel (D)		 Leslie
Rutledge (R)		 Aaron
Cash (L)		 Undecided
Public Policy Polling October 30–November 1, 2014 1,092 ± 3% 40% 44% 7% 8%
Suffolk September 20–23, 2014 500 ± 4.4% 36% 36% 5% 23%
Public Policy Polling September 18–21, 2014 1,453 ± 2.6% 35% 41% 7% 17%
Gravis Marketing September 8–11, 2014 902 ± 4% 33% 42% 3% 22%
Answers Unlimited September 7–9, 2014 600 ± 3.5% 37% 34% 5% 24%
Public Policy Polling August 1–3, 2014 1,066 ± 3% 32% 38% 10% 20%
Gravis Marketing July 7–8, 2014 987 ± 3% 41% 51% 8% —
Arkansas Attorney General election, 2014[14]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Leslie Rutledge 430,799 51.6
Democratic Nate Steel 360,680 43.2
Libertarian Aaron Cash 43,245 5.2
Majority 70,119 8.4%
Total votes 834,724 100.0
Republican gain from Democratic

References

  1. ↑ "UPDATE: Nate Steel announces for attorney general". Arkansas Times. July 10, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Tolbert: Nation Set To Announce For Attorney General". Talk Business Arkansas. January 30, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Leslie Rutledge to make Republican run for attorney general". Arkansas Times. June 28, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  4. ↑ "David Sterling Makes Attorney General Race Official". Talk Business Arkansas. May 7, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Poultry Federation leader won't run for Arkansas attorney general". WATTAgNet. September 13, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Hiland won't run for attorney general". Arkansas Online. October 13, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  7. ↑ "David Sterling, Leslie Rutledge Go to Runoff in Attorney General Race". Arkansas Business. May 21, 2014. Retrieved June 4, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Runoff race gets nasty between GOP Attorney General candidates". The City Wire. June 2, 2014. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved June 4, 2014.
  9. ↑ "2014 Arkansas General Primary Runoff Election June 10, 2014". Arkansas Secretary of State. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Candidates who filed for office in Arkansas". sfgate.com. March 3, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Rutledge Says Clerk's Office Denied Her 2013 Attempt To Register". Arkansas Matters. October 1, 2014. Retrieved October 2, 2014.
  12. ↑ "County Clerk Cancels Leslie Rutledge's Voter Registration". Arkansas Business. October 1, 2014. Retrieved October 2, 2014.
  13. ↑ "AG hopeful Rutledge not registered to vote in state, clerk says". Arkansas Online. September 30, 2014. Retrieved October 2, 2014.
  14. ↑ "November 4, 2014 General election and nonpartisan runoff election Official results". Arkansas Secretary of State. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
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