Steve Harrelson

Steve Harrelson
Arkansas State Senate District 21
Former officeholder
In office
January 10, 2011- January 10, 2013
Party	Democratic
Leadership
House Majority Leader
2009-2011
Compensation
Base salary	$15,869 per year
Per diem	$136 per day
Elections and appointments
Last election	November 6, 2012
First elected	November 2, 2010
Term limits	2 terms (8 years)
Prior offices
Arkansas House of Representatives
2005-2011
Education
Bachelor's	University of Arkansas (1996)
J.D.	University of Arkansas, Little Rock (2000)
Personal
Birthday	March 3, 1974
Place of birth	Texarkana, Texas
Profession	Attorney
Religion	Christian/United Methodist
Websites
Office website
Campaign website

The information about this individual is current as of when his or her last campaign ended. See anything that needs updating? Send a correction to our editors

Steve Harrelson (b. March 3, 1974) was a Democratic member of the Arkansas State Senate, representing District 21 from 2011 to 2013.

He is a former member of the Arkansas House of Representatives, representing the 1st District from 2005 to 2011.

Harrelson is an Attorney/Partner with the Harrelson Law Firm.

He is involved with a number of organizations, including being Chair of the Board of Directors of Court Appointed Special Advocates, Chair of the Domestic Relations Division for the Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association of the Board of Governors New Lawyers Division for the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, and member of the American Bar Association.

Committee assignments

2011-2012

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Harrelson served on these committees:

• Joint Budget Committee, Arkansas Assembly

• Subcommittee on Peer Review

• City, County and Local Affairs Committee, Arkansas State Senate
• Senate Efficiency Committee, Arkansas State Senate, Vice Chair
• Judiciary Committee, Arkansas State Senate
• Legislative Joint Auditing Committee, Arkansas Assembly
• Joint Performance Review Committee, Arkansas Assembly, Vice Chair

Issues

Harrelson's answers to the Arkansas State Legislative Election 2008 Political Courage Test are available. The test provides voters with how a candidate would vote on the issues if elected. When asked his legislative priorities he responded:

"My top legislative priority of the 87th General Assembly is to repeal the other half of the sales tax on food and food ingredients (excepting the 1/8 cent conservation tax that was adopted by Arkansas voters as Amendment 75). Current revenue reports as of today (4/27/08) show that this proposal is possible without increasing taxes or fees. In the event a surplus still exists after this action, I am in support of phasing out the sales tax on energy consumption."

Sponsored legislation

Harrelson's sponsored legislation includes:

• HB 1030 - "AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE CLOSING OF UNLICENSED TRANSITIONAL HOUSING FOR CRIMINAL OFFENDERS; AND TO ALLOW CIVIL PENALTIES FOR OPERATION OF UNLICENSED TRANSITIONAL HOUSING."
• HB 1402 - "AN ACT TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS CIGARETTE FIRE SAFETY STANDARD ACT; AND TO CREATE THE CIGARETTE FIRE SAFETY STANDARD FUND."
• HB 1611 - "AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR AN INTERNET BROADCAST OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF COMMITTEES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES."

For a full listing of sponsored bills, see the House site.

Elections

2012

See also: Arkansas State Senate elections, 2012

Harrelson ran for re-election in the 2012 election for Arkansas Senate, District 11. Harrelson defeated Larry Cowling in the May 22 Democratic primary and was defeated by Jimmy Hickey, Jr. (R) in the November 6, 2012, general election.

Arkansas State Senate District 11 Democratic Primary, 2012
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Steve Harrelson	54.7%	3,613
Larry Cowling	45.3%	2,996
Total Votes		6,609

2010

Harrelson was ineligible to run for re-election in 2010 due to the term limits of the Arkansas House of Representatives. He instead won election to the District 21 seat of the Arkansas State Senate. He defeated Ken Cowling in the May 18 primary election and ran unopposed in the general election.

Arkansas State Senate, District 21 Democratic Primary (2010)
Candidates		Votes
Steve Harrelson (D)		6,396
Ken Cowling (D)		5,592

2008

On November 4, 2008, Harrelson won re-election to the 1st District Seat in the Arkansas House of Representatives, running unopposed in the general election.

Harrelson raised $18,991 for his campaign.

Campaign donors

2010

In 2010, Harrelson raised $182,571 in contributions.

His two largest contributors were:

Donor	Amount
Harrelson, Steve	$28,500
Smith, William T	$2,500

2008

Below are Harrelson's top 5 campaign contributors in the 2008 election:

Contributor	2008 total
Stephens Group	$1,500
Southern States Police Benevolent Assoc	$1,206
Wal-Mart	$1,000
Arkansas Trial Lawyers Assoc	$1,000
Southwestern Energy Co	$750

Recent news

This section displays the most recent stories in a google news search for the term "Steve + Harrelson + Arkansas + Senate"

External links

Suggest a link

• Official Website
• Senate website
• Project Vote Smart legislative profile
• Project Vote Smart bio
• Campaign Contributions: 2010, 2008, 2006, 2004
• Steve Harrelson on Facebook
• Steve Harrelson on Twitter

References

Political offices
Preceded by Barbara Horn	Arkansas State Senate District 21 2011–2013	Succeeded by Paul Bookout (D)
Preceded by '	Arkansas House District 1 2005–2011	Succeeded by Mary P. Hickerson