Republican Party of Arkansas facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Republican Party of Arkansas
Abbreviation	RPA
Chairman	Joseph K. Wood
Governor	Sarah Huckabee Sanders
Lieutenant Governor	Leslie Rutledge
Senate President pro tempore	Bart Hester
House Speaker	Matthew Shepherd
Founded	April 2, 1867 (157 years ago) (1867-04-02)
Headquarters	1201 West 6th Street, Little Rock, Arkansas
Membership (June 2021)	117,277
Ideology	Conservatism
National affiliation	Republican Party
State House	82 / 100
State Senate	29 / 35
Statewide Executive Offices	7 / 7
U.S. House of Representatives	4 / 4
U.S. Senate	2 / 2
Election symbol
Politics of Arkansas

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. It is currently the dominant party in the state, controlling all four of Arkansas' U.S. House seats, both U.S. Senate seats, all statewide executive offices, including the governorship, and supermajorities in both houses of the state legislature.

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

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.

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 2023, there have been a total of eight Republican governors.

#	Governor	Photo	County	Start date	End date	Time in office
9	Clayton, PowellPowell Clayton (1833–1914)		Jefferson	July 2, 1868	March 17, 1871	2 years, 258 days
9.1 —	Hadley, Ozra AmanderOzra Amander Hadley (1826–1915)		Pulaski	March 17, 1871	January 6, 1873	1 year, 295 days
10	Baxter, ElishaElisha Baxter (1827–1899)		Independence	January 6, 1873	November 12, 1874	1 year, 310 days
37	Rockefeller, WinthropWinthrop Rockefeller (1912–1973)		Conway	January 10, 1967	January 12, 1971	4 years, 2 days
41	White, Frank D.Frank D. White (1933–2003)		Pulaski	January 19, 1981	January 11, 1983	1 year, 357 days
44	Huckabee, MikeMike Huckabee (born 1955)		Hempstead	July 15, 1996	January 9, 2007	10 years, 359 days
46	Hutchinson, AsaAsa Hutchinson (born 1950)		Benton	January 13, 2015	January 10, 2023	7 years, 362 days
47	Huckabee Sanders, SarahSarah Huckabee Sanders (born 1982)		Hempstead	January 10, 2023	Incumbent	1 year, 170 days

Current elected officials

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 2015:

• 

  Junior U.S. Senator Cotton, TomTom Cotton

• 

  Senior U.S. Senator Boozman, JohnJohn Boozman

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:

District	Member	Photo
1st	Crawford, RickRick Crawford
2nd	Hill, FrenchFrench Hill
3rd	Womack, SteveSteve Womack
4th	Westerman, BruceBruce Westerman

Statewide offices

Republicans control all seven of the elected statewide constitutional offices:

• 

  Lieutenant Governor Rutledge, LeslieLeslie Rutledge

• 

  Attorney General Griffin, TimTim Griffin

• Secretary of State: John Thurston
• State Auditor: Dennis Milligan
• State Treasurer: Larry Walther
• Commissioner of State Lands: Tommy Land

State legislative leaders

• Senate President Pro Tempore: Bart Hester
  • Senate Majority Leader: Blake Johnson
• Speaker of the House: Matthew Shepherd
  • Speaker Pro Tempore: Jon Eubanks
  • House Majority Leader: Marcus Richmond

List of chairmen

This is a list of chairmen of the Republican Party of Arkansas:

See also

• Democratic Party of Arkansas
• Political party strength in Arkansas