[Primary Election: June 10, 2008]

Presidential Primary Election -- Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Jan. 7, 2008 - Voter Registration Deadline.  Jan. 29, 2008 - Early Voting Begins.

Democrats 47 Delegates (35 Pledged, 12 Unpledged) and 6 Alternates. 1.16% of the 4,049 Delegate Votes. Clinton  |  Obama Official Results Joe Biden 515 0.16% +Hillary Clinton 220,136 70.05% Chris Dodd 308 0.10% John Edwards 5,873 1.87% Mike Gravel 325 0.10% Dennis Kucinich 393 0.13% Barack Obama 82,476 26.25% Bill Richardson 810 0.26% Uncommitted 3,398 1.08% Total 314,234 Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D) clearly benefited from her years of service as First Lady of Arkansas.

Republicans 34 Delegates: 3 RNC; 19 at-large; 12 by CD (3 x 4 CDs). 1.43% of the 2,380 Delegates. Allocation At-large - "Each candidate that hits 10% threshold in statewide primary votes gets 1 delegate and 1 alternate.  After that, if a candidate receives 50% of statewide vote, then allocated remaining AL delegates.  If no majority winner, then remaining AL delegates allocated among top 3 vote-getters." CD - "If candidate receives majority of vote, then gets all 3 delegates; if plurality, then highest vote-getter gets two delegates and next highest gets one delegate." Huckabee  |  Romney  |  Paul Official Results Rudy Giuliani 658 0.29% +Mike Huckabee 138,557 60.46% John McCain 46,343 20.22% Ron Paul 10,983 4.79% Mitt Romney 30,997 13.53% Fred Thompson 628 0.27% Uncommitted 987 0.43% Total 229,153 As might be expected former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) did well in his home state.

Greens
Jared A. Ball, 81 votes (10%)   Cynthia McKinney, 157 votes (20%)   Kent Mesplay, 61 votes (8%)   Kat Swift, 46 votes (6%)   Uncom, 438 votes (56%)   Total, 783.

Setting the Primary Date
In early March 2005 then Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) signed into law SB235 "An Act Concerning Presidential Preferential Primary Elections" which moved the state's presidential primary from May to the first Tuesday in February.  The bill, by Sen. Tracy Steele (D-North Little Rock), had easily passed both houses of the General Assembly.

[Also Note.  In the first part of 2006 the Democratic National Committee sought proposals from state parties to hold presidential caucuses or primaries early, in the pre-window period (i.e. before February 5, 2008), in an effort to increase diversity in the early stages of its nominating process.  Arkansas Democrats were among several state parties that applied to the DNC by the April 14, 2006 deadline seeking to hold their primary early.  However the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee, meeting on July 22, 2006, recommended South Carolina for the new pre-window primary position].
 

General Election -- Tuesday, November 2, 2004

Voter Registration Deadline: Oct. 3, 2004 (30 days before the Election).
Early Voting Begins: Oct. 18, 2004 (15 days before the Election).

Official Results Badnarik/Campagna (Lib.) 2,352 (0.22) +Bush/Cheney (Rep.) 572,898 (54.31) Cobb/LaMarche (Grn.) 1,488 (0.14) Kerry/Edwards (Dem.) 469,953 (44.55) Nader/Camejo (Pop.) 6,171 (0.58) Peroutka/Baldwin (Const.) 2,083 (0.20) Total........1,054,945   Total Over Votes 7,249  Total Under Votes 8,379

2004 Overview Arkansas is another Southern state where the  Kerry-Edwards ticket did not go over too well.  The Bush ticket expanded upon its 2000 showing, gaining a plurality of 102,945 votes (9.76 percentage points) and carrying 54 of 75 counties (results by county). General Election Details Kerry/Allies  |  Bush-Cheney '04

Past Results

1996 Clinton (Dem.).......475,171 (53.74) Dole (Rep.)............325,416 (36.80) Perot (Ref.).............69,884 (7.90) Others (10)..............13,791 (1.56) Total........884,262 1992 Clinton (Dem.).......505,823 (53.21) Bush (Rep.)...........337,324 (35.48) Perot (Ind.)..............99,132 (10.43) Others (10)...............8,374 (0.88) Total........950,653	2000 Buchanan/Foster (Ref.) 7,358 (0.80) Phillips/Frazier (Const.) 1,415 (0.15) Hagelin/Goldhaber (NLP) 1,098 (0.12) Browne/Olivier (Lib.) 2,781 (0.30) Gore/Lieberman (Dem.) 422,768 (45.86) Nader/LaDuke (Grn.) 13,421 (1.46) +Bush/Cheney (Rep.) 472,940 (51.31) Total........921,781 Arkansas has early voting for 15 days prior to Election Day (starting Oct. 23) at county clerks' offices and in multiple locations in Pulaski Couty.  Statewide about 18% voted early or by absentee ballot.l                                               \\ Total Registration, Oct. 10, 2000 -  1,553,356 Voting Age Population, Nov. 2000 -  1,929,000 Turnout as a percentage of voting age population was 47.79%.  (U.S. avg. 53.76%).	2000 Overview The Bush ticket prevailed in President Clinton's home state, returning Arkansas' six electors to the Republican column.  Gov. Bush carried 43 of the state's 75 counties and won by a plurality of 50,172 votes.  He kept the race close in Pulaski County (Little Rock), and polled strongly in Northwest Arkansas (for example Benton County).  In U.S. House races, Democrats picked up a seat as State Sen. Mike Ross of Prescott defeated incumbent Republican Rep. Jay Dickey of Pine Bluff by 51% to 49%.  General Election Activity

Republicans
35 Delegates (12 CD and 23 At Large)
George W. Bush 40,347 (97%)     Uncomm. 1,146 (3%)

2004 page >
2000 page >
 

Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action.