Republican Party of Arkansas

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Republican Party of Arkansas
AbbreviationRPA
ChairmanJonelle Fulmer
GovernorAsa Hutchinson
Lieutenant GovernorTim Griffin
Senate President pro temporeJimmy Hickey Jr.
House SpeakerMatthew Shepherd
FoundedApril 2, 1867
(154 years ago) (1867-04-02)
Headquarters1201 West 6th Street, Little Rock, Arkansas
Membership (June 2021)117,277[1]
IdeologyConservatism
Fiscal conservatism
Social conservatism
Christian right
Political positionRight-wing
National affiliationRepublican Party
State House
76 / 100
State Senate
27 / 35
Statewide Executive Offices
7 / 7
U.S. House of Representatives
4 / 4
U.S. Senate
2 / 2
Election symbol
Republican Disc.svg
Website
arkansasgop.org

The Republican Party of Arkansas (RPA), headquartered at 1201 West 6th Street in downtown Little Rock, is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Arkansas.

The Republican Party of Arkansas was founded on April 2, 1867, by "the leading Union men" of Arkansas.[2] Under Powell Clayton, it played a preeminent role in politics at the height of Reconstruction in the state (1864–1874).[3] The party chairman is Jonelle Fulmer

History[]

Powell Clayton, 9th Governor of Arkansas (1868–1871) and the first Republican to hold the office

The Republican Party, also referred to as the GOP (Grand Old Party), is the second oldest currently existing political party in the United States after its older rival, the Democratic Party. Both parties exist in all fifty states. Historically, prior to the late 20th century, the Republican Party was much weaker than the Democratic Party in the former states of the old Confederacy, including Arkansas.

The Arkansas party did not hire its first paid executive director until 1970, when businessman Neal Sox Johnson, then of Nashville, Arkansas, assumed the position in the last year of Winthrop Rockefeller's second term as governor of Arkansas. Johnson held the position until early in 1973, when he left Arkansas to take a position with the former Farmers Home Administration in Washington.[4]

Between 2010 and 2014, similar to what took place in neighboring Oklahoma, Arkansas Republicans won all four U.S. House seats, both U.S. Senate seats, all of the statewide offices, and supermajority control of both chambers of the General Assembly.

Associated groups[]

There are six groups and these groups are: Arkansas Diversity Alliances Coalition, African American Coalition of Arkansas, Arkansas African American Trailblazers, Arkansas Federation of College Republicans, Arkansas Federation of Young Republicans, Arkansas Federation of Republican Women, and the Arkansas Federation of Teenage Republicans. The Tusk Club is another arm of the Arkansas Republican Party.

Republican governors[]

As of 2015, there have been a total of seven Republican governors.

# Governor Portrait County Start date End date Time in office
9 Powell Clayton (1833–1914) Powell Clayton.jpg Jefferson July 2, 1868 March 17, 1871[a] 2 years, 258 days
— Ozra Amander Hadley (1826–1915) O. A. Hadley (Arkansas Governor) 2.jpg Pulaski March 17, 1871 January 6, 1873 1 year, 295 days[b]
10 Elisha Baxter (1827–1899) Elisha Baxter.png Independence January 6, 1873 November 12, 1874 1 year, 310 days
37 Winthrop Rockefeller (1912–1973) Winthrop Rockefeller Razorback 1969 (cropped).jpg Conway January 10, 1967 January 12, 1971 4 years, 2 days
41 Frank D. White (1933–2003) Frank D. White 1995.jpg Pulaski January 19, 1981 January 11, 1983 1 year, 357 days
44 Mike Huckabee (born 1955) Huckabee-SF-CC-024.jpg Hempstead July 15, 1996 January 9, 2007 10 years, 359 days
46 Asa Hutchinson (born 1950) Asa Hutchinson 2019.jpg Benton January 13, 2015 Incumbent 6 years, 239 days

Current elected officials[]

Junior Senator Tom Cotton
Senior Senator John Boozman

The Arkansas Republican Party controls all of the state's seven statewide offices. Republicans also hold both of the state's U.S. Senate seats and all four of the state's U.S. House seats.

Members of Congress[]

U.S. Senate[]

Republicans have controlled both of Arkansas's seats in the U.S. Senate since 2014:

  • Class II: Tom Cotton (Junior Senator)
  • Class III: John Boozman (Senior Senator)

U.S. House of Representatives[]

Out of the four seats Arkansas is apportioned in the U.S. House of Representatives, all four are held by Republicans:

Statewide offices[]

Republicans control all seven of the elected statewide constitutional offices:

State legislative leaders[]

List of chairmen[]

This is a list of chairmen of the Republican Party of Arkansas:[5]

  • 1932–1955: Osro Cobb
  • 1955–1962: Ben C. Henley
  • 1962–1964: William L. Spicer
  • 1964–1966: John P. Hammerschmidt
  • 1966–1970: Odell Pollard
  • 1970–1972: Charles T. Bernard
  • 1972–1974: Jim Caldwell
  • 1974–1980: A. Lynn Lowe
  • 1980: Jeraldine D. Pruden (interim)
  • 1980–1982: Harlan Holleman
  • 1982: Bob Cohee (interim)
  • 1982–1983: Morris S. Arnold
  • 1983–1984: Bob Leslie
  • 1984–1985: William Kelly
  • 1985: Sharon Trusty (interim)
  • 1985–1986: Len E. Blaylock
  • 1986–1988: Ed Bethune
  • 1988–1990: Dr. Ken Coon
  • 1991–1992: Asa Hutchinson (co-chairman)
  • 1991–1992: Sheffield Nelson (co-chairman)
  • 1992–1995: Asa Hutchinson
  • 1996–2002: Lloyd Vance Stone Jr.
  • 2002–2003: John P. Hammerschmidt
  • 2003–2004: Winthrop P. Rockefeller
  • 2004–2007: Gilbert Baker
  • 2007–2008: Dennis Milligan
  • 2008–2020: Doyle Webb
  • 2020–present: Jonelle Fulmer

See also[]

References[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Resigned.
  2. ^ President of the Senate acting as Governor.

Citations[]

  1. ^ "VR Statistics Report for June 2021" (PDF). Retrieved June 9, 2021.
  2. ^ Clayton, Powell (1915). The Aftermath of the Civil War, in Arkansas. New York: The Neale Publishing Company. pp. 35–37. LCCN 15004463. OCLC 3508506. OL 6574262M – via Internet Archive.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. ^ Barth, Jay (September 19, 2017). "Republican Party". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Little Rock, Arkansas: CALS. 594. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
  4. ^ Arkansas Outlook, Arkansas Republican Party newsletter, February 1973
  5. ^ Coon, Ken, Dr. Heroes and Heroines of the Journey: The Builders of the Modern Republican Party of Arkansas. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

External links[]

Coordinates: 34°44′41.1″N 92°17′04.7″W / 34.744750°N 92.284639°W / 34.744750; -92.284639

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