2008 United States Senate election in Arkansas

2008 United States Senate election in Arkansas
	November 4, 2008
	County results; Pryor: 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%
U.S. senator before election; Mark Pryor; Democratic	Elected U.S. Senator ; Mark Pryor; Democratic

The 2008 United States Senate election in Arkansas was held on November 4, 2008. Incumbent Senator Mark Pryor ran for a second term. No Republican filed to challenge him, and his only opponent was Green Party candidate Rebekah Kennedy. Pryor won re-election with almost 80% of the vote, despite Republican John McCain winning the state by nearly 20 points in the concurrent presidential election.

Kennedy received the highest ever vote share of any Green Party candidate running for U.S. Senate,^[1] and the highest for a third party Senate candidate in Arkansas until her record was surpassed by Libertarian candidate Ricky Dale Harrington Jr. in 2020.

As of 2023, this was the last time the Democrats won a U.S. Senate election in Arkansas.

Candidates

Democratic

Mark Pryor, incumbent U.S. Senator

Green

Rebekah Kennedy, attorney and nominee for Attorney General in 2006 and 2010

General election

Campaign

On March 10, the state Republican Party announced it has no plans to field a candidate against Pryor. The only Republican to express interest in the race, health care executive Tom Formicola, decided not to run the weekend before filing began. Formicola lost the GOP primaries for the Senate in 2004 and the United States House of Representatives in 2006. As a result, Pryor was the only Senator in 2008 to face no major-party opposition in a reelection bid.^[2]

There had been speculation that former Governor Mike Huckabee would run against Pryor if his presidential bid were unsuccessful, but on March 8, Huckabee said he would not contest the race.^[3]

Pryor's sole challenger was Green Party nominee Rebekah Kennedy, who entered the race in April 2007.^[4] Kennedy received 206,504 votes (20.54%).^[5] This is the highest percentage of the vote for any Green Party candidate running for U.S. Senate ever, and her 206,504 votes is the second most total votes received by a Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate after Medea Susan Benjamin's 326,828 votes in the 2000 California Senate race.^[1] Kennedy's campaign, in addition to being record breaking for the Green Party, was also the strongest showing of any independent or third-party candidate running for the U.S. Senate in 2008.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report^[6]	Safe D	October 23, 2008
CQ Politics^[7]	Safe D	October 31, 2008
Rothenberg Political Report^[8]	Safe D	November 2, 2008
Real Clear Politics^[9]	Safe D	November 4, 2008

Polling

Pryor was polled at 90% in a poll without a challenger in March.^[10]

Results

2008 United States Senate election in Arkansas^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mark Pryor (incumbent)	804,678	79.53%
	Green	Rebekah Kennedy	207,076	20.47%
Total votes			1,011,754	100.00%
	Democratic hold

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Madison (Largest city: Huntsville)
Washington (Largest city: Fayetteville)
Cleburne (Largest city: Heber Springs)
White (Largest city: Searcy)
Faulkner (Largest city: Conway)
Lonoke (Largest city: Cabot)
Polk (Largest city: Mena)
Saline (Largest city: Benton)
Scott (Largest city: Waldron)
Montgomery (Largest city: Mount Ida)
Sebastian (Largest city: Fort Smith)
Pope (Largest city: Russellville)
Crawford (Largest city: Van Buren)
Searcy (Largest city: Marshall)
Baxter (Largest city: Mountain Home)
Marion (Largest city: Bull Shoals)
Boone (Largest city: Harrison)
Carroll (Largest city: Berryville)
Newton (Largest city: Jasper)
Benton (Largest city: Rogers)

References

1 2 "A short history of Green Party U.S. Senate races – Green Party Watch". Archived from the original on July 29, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
↑ "Today's THV - KTHV Little Rock News Article". Todaysthv.com. March 10, 2008. Retrieved July 26, 2012.
↑ Huckabee says he won't run against Pryor Archived 2008-03-16 at the Wayback Machine, Nasdaq.com
↑ "Kennedy enters race for Pryor's Senate Seat", Daniel Nassaw, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, April 14, 2007.
↑ "U.S. Senate Statewide Results". Secretary of State of Arkansas. Retrieved April 9, 2009.
↑ "2008 Senate Race ratings for October 23, 2008". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
↑ Race Ratings Chart: Senate Archived October 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine CQ Politics
↑ "2008 Senate ratings". Inside Elections. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
↑ "2008 RCP Averages & Senate Results". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
↑ "Arkansas Polls". Electoral-vote.com. Retrieved July 26, 2012.
↑ "U.S. Senate Statewide Results". Secretary of State of Arkansas. December 2, 2008. Retrieved December 9, 2008.

External links

Elections from the Arkansas Secretary of State
U.S. Congress candidates for Arkansas at Project Vote Smart
Arkansas, U.S. Senate from CQ Politics
Arkansas U.S. Senate from OurCampaigns.com
Arkansas U.S. Senate race from 2008 Race Tracker
Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets
official campaign websites (Archived)
- Rebekah Kennedy, Green Party candidate
- Mark Pryor, Democratic incumbent

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[auto-1] 1 2 "A short history of Green Party U.S. Senate races – Green Party Watch". Archived from the original on July 29, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2021.

[2] "Today's THV - KTHV Little Rock News Article". Todaysthv.com. March 10, 2008. Retrieved July 26, 2012.

[3] Huckabee says he won't run against Pryor Archived 2008-03-16 at the Wayback Machine, Nasdaq.com

[4] "Kennedy enters race for Pryor's Senate Seat", Daniel Nassaw, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, April 14, 2007.

[5] "U.S. Senate Statewide Results". Secretary of State of Arkansas. Retrieved April 9, 2009.

[Cook_PR-6] "2008 Senate Race ratings for October 23, 2008". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved April 1, 2021.

[7] Race Ratings Chart: Senate Archived October 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine CQ Politics

[Inside_Elections-8] "2008 Senate ratings". Inside Elections. Retrieved April 1, 2021.

[9] "2008 RCP Averages & Senate Results". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved August 31, 2021.

[10] "Arkansas Polls". Electoral-vote.com. Retrieved July 26, 2012.

[11] "U.S. Senate Statewide Results". Secretary of State of Arkansas. December 2, 2008. Retrieved December 9, 2008.

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Elections in Arkansas
General	1844 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1900 1902 1903 1904 1906 1907 1908 1910 1912 1913 1914 1916 1917 1918 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1926 1927 1928 1930 1932 1933 1934 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1942 1943 1944 1946 1949 1950 1952 1953 1954 1956 1958 1959 1960 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1972 1973 1974 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022
Governor	1836 1840 1844 1848 1849 S 1852 1856 1860 1862 1864 U 1868 1872 1874 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1913 S 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
U.S. President	1836 1840 1844 1848 1852 1856 1860 1864 1868 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
U.S. Senate	Class 2: 1833 1839–40 1848 S 1853 1859 1868 S 1870 1876 1883 1885 S 1889 1895 1901 1907 1913 S 1913 1918 1924 1930 1936 1937 S 1942 1948 1954 1960 1966 1972 1978 1984 1990 1996 2002 2008 2014 2020 Class 3: 1837 1843 1845 S 1849 1855 1861 1867 1873 1879 1881 S 1885 1891 1897 1903 1909 1914 1916 S 1920 1926 1932 S 1932 1938 1944 1950 1956 1962 1968 1974 1980 1986 1992 1998 2004 2010 2016 2022
U.S. House	1837 1838 1840 1842 1844 1846 1848 1851 1853 1854 1856 1858 1860 1868 1870 1872 1874 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 (4th S) 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 (6th S) 1962 1964 1966 (4th S) 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022
'S,' denotes special election; 'U,' denotes election under Federal (Union) military occupation See also: Political party strength in Arkansas

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* Third party is endorsed by a major party
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Territorial Governors (since 1970)	U.S. Virgin Islands 1970 Puerto Rico 1972 District of Columbia 1974 U.S. Virgin Islands 1974 U.S. Virgin Islands 1978 Puerto Rico 1980 U.S. Virgin Islands 1986 Puerto Rico 1988 U.S. Virgin Islands 1990 U.S. Virgin Islands 1994 U.S. Virgin Islands 1998 Puerto Rico 2000 Northern Mariana Islands 2001 U.S. Virgin Islands 2002 Northern Mariana Islands 2005 U.S. Virgin Islands 2006 Northern Mariana Islands 2009 District of Columbia 2010 U.S. Virgin Islands 2010 District of Columbia 2014 Northern Mariana Islands 2014 U.S. Virgin Islands 2014 Puerto Rico 2016 District of Columbia 2018 Guam 2018 Northern Mariana Islands 2018 U.S. Virgin Islands 2018 Puerto Rico 2020 District of Columbia 2022 Northern Mariana Islands 2022 U.S. Virgin Islands 2022
Portal:Politics Third party (U.S. politics) List of third-party and independent performances in United States elections Third-party and independent members of the United States Congress

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