2018 Arkansas gubernatorial election

For related races, see 2018 United States gubernatorial elections.

The 2018 Arkansas gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 2018, to elect the governor of Arkansas, concurrently with elections to the United States Senate in other states, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican governor Asa Hutchinson won re-election to a second term, winning by more than 33 percentage points and carrying all but seven counties, marking the largest winning margin of any Republican gubernatorial candidate in Arkansas history.

2018 Arkansas gubernatorial election

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Nominee Asa Hutchinson Jared Henderson Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 582,406 283,218 Percentage 65.33% 31.77%

County results Congressional district results Township results Precinct results Hutchinson:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Henderson:      40-50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Tie:      40–50%      50%

Governor before election Asa Hutchinson Republican Elected Governor Asa Hutchinson Republican

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

• Asa Hutchinson, incumbent governor^[1][2]
• Jan Morgan, gun range owner^[3][4]

Declined

• Tim Griffin, lieutenant governor and former U.S. representative (running for re-election)^[5][6]
• Leslie Rutledge, attorney general (running for re-election)^[1]
• John Thurston, land commissioner (running for Secretary of State)^[1]

Endorsements

Asa Hutchinson

Federal officials

• Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States^[7]

Organizations

• National Rifle Association of America^[8]

Newspapers

• Arkansas Democrat-Gazette^[9]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Asa Hutchinson	Jan Morgan	Undecided
Hendrix College[10]	April 17–19, 2018	676	± 3.8%	58%	31%	12%

Results

Results by county:

Hutchinson

•   80–90%
•   70–80%
•   60–70%
•   50–60%

Morgan

•   50–60%

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Asa Hutchinson (incumbent)	145,251	69.7
	Republican	Jan Morgan	63,009	30.3
Total votes			208,260	100.0

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

• Jared Henderson, former Arkansas executive director of Teach For America^[11]
• Leticia Sanders, hairdresser^[12]

Declined

• Keith Ingram, Minority Leader of the Arkansas Senate^[1]
• Jay Martin, former Majority Leader of the Arkansas House of Representatives^[13][14]
• Kevin Smith, mayor of Helena-West Helena, Arkansas, former Majority Whip of the Arkansas Senate, former Democratic candidate in 1996 United States Senate election in Arkansas

Results

Results by county:

Henderson

•   70–80%
•   60–70%
•   50–60%

Sanders

•   50–60%

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jared Henderson	68,340	63.4
	Democratic	Leticia Sanders	39,382	36.6
Total votes			107,722	100.0

Independents

Candidates

Declined

• Bobby Bones, radio host^[15][16]

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Declared

• Mark West (Libertarian), pastor and nominee for AR-01 in 2016^[17][18]

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[19]	Safe R	October 26, 2018
The Washington Post[20]	Safe R	November 5, 2018
FiveThirtyEight[21]	Safe R	November 5, 2018
Rothenberg Political Report[22]	Safe R	November 1, 2018
Sabato's Crystal Ball[23]	Safe R	November 5, 2018
RealClearPolitics[24]	Safe R	November 4, 2018
Daily Kos[25]	Safe R	November 5, 2018
Fox News[26][a]	Likely R	November 5, 2018
Politico[27]	Safe R	November 5, 2018
Governing[28]	Safe R	November 5, 2018

Notes

1. The Fox News Midterm Power Rankings uniquely does not contain a category for Safe/Solid races

Debates

Dates	Location	Hutchinson	Henderson	West	Link
September 12, 2018	Little Rock, Arkansas	Didn't participate	Participant	Participant	Full debate[29] - YouTube
October 12, 2018	Conway, Arkansas	Participant	Participant	Participant	Full debate[30] - C-SPAN

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Asa Hutchinson (R)	Jared Henderson (D)	Mark West (L)	Other	Undecided
University of Arkansas[31]	October 1–28, 2018	618	± 3.9%	59%	35%	–	6%	–
Hendrix College[32]	October 18–19, 2018	528	± 4.3%	60%	24%	5%	–	11%
Hendrix College[33]	September 5–7, 2018	1,701	± 2.4%	60%	25%	6%	–	9%
Mason-Dixon[34]	March 21–24, 2018	625	± 4.0%	63%	24%	–	–	13%

Results

2018 Arkansas gubernatorial election^[35]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Asa Hutchinson (incumbent)	582,406	65.33%	+9.89%
	Democratic	Jared Henderson	283,218	31.77%	−9.72%
	Libertarian	Mark West	25,885	2.90%	+0.98%
Total votes			891,509	100.00%	N/A
	Republican hold

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Ashley (largest city: Crossett)
• Bradley (largest city: Warren)
• Clark (largest city: Arkadelphia)
• Dallas (largest city: Fordyce)
• Desha (largest city: Dumas)
• Drew (largest city: Monticello)
• Jackson (largest city: Newport)
• Lafayette (largest city: Stamps)
• Lincoln (largest city: Star City)
• Little River (largest city: Ashdown)
• Mississippi (largest city: Osceola)
• Monroe (largest city: Clarendon)
• Nevada (largest city: Prescott)
• Ouachita (largest city: Camden)
• Pike (largest city: Glenwood)
• Woodruff (largest city: Augusta)

By congressional district

Hutchinson won all four congressional districts.^[36]

District	Hutchinson	Henderson	Representative
1st	69%	27%	Rick Crawford
2nd	59%	39%	French Hill
3rd	66%	31%	Steve Womack
4th	69%	28%	Bruce Westerman

See also

• 2018 Arkansas elections