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Arkansas' 1st Congressional District election, 2024 (March 5 Democratic primary)

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Arkansas' 1st Congressional District
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Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: November 14, 2023
Primary: March 5, 2024
Primary runoff: April 2, 2024
General: November 5, 2024
How to vote
Poll times: 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Voting in Arkansas
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Republican
DDHQ and The Hill: Safe Republican
Inside Elections: Solid Republican
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds
U.S. House battlegrounds
Federal and state primary competitiveness
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2024
See also
Arkansas' 1st Congressional District
1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th
Arkansas elections, 2024
U.S. Congress elections, 2024
U.S. Senate elections, 2024
U.S. House elections, 2024

A Democratic Party primary took place on March 5, 2024, in Arkansas' 1st Congressional District to determine which Democratic candidate would run in the district's general election on November 5, 2024.

Rodney Govens advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Arkansas District 1.

All 435 seats were up for election. At the time of the election, Republicans had a 220 to 212 majority with three vacancies.[1] As of June 2024, 45 members of the U.S. House had announced they were not running for re-election. To read more about the U.S. House elections taking place this year, click here.

In the 2022 election in this district, the Republican candidate won 73.8%-26.2%. Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Donald Trump (R) would have defeated Joe Biden (D) 69.0%-28.1%.[2]

Candidate filing deadline Primary election General election
November 14, 2023
March 5, 2024
November 5, 2024


A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Arkansas utilizes an open primary system. Registered voters do not have to be members of a party to vote in that party's primary.[3][4]

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

This page focuses on Arkansas' 1st Congressional District Democratic primary. For more in-depth information on the district's Republican primary and the general election, see the following pages:

Candidates and election results

Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Rodney Govens advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Arkansas District 1.

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Rodney Govens

Image of Rodney Govens

WebsiteFacebookTwitterYouTube

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography:  "Rodney Govens is a U.S. Army veteran, husband and father, and longtime Court Appointed Special Advocate for abused and neglected children. Born into a military family stationed in Germany, Rodney grew up in Columbia, S.C., and his telecommunications career brought him to Arkansas in 2017; he and his wife of 19 years, Stacy, live in Cabot with their 7-year-old twins, Grayson and Zoey. During his three-and-a-half years in the Army, Govens served as an E-4 Specialist in the Signal Corps with 596 Signal Company from Fort Riley, Kansas, including deployment to Iraq as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. Service honors awarded included the Army Achievement Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, among others. Since his honorable discharge in 2005, Govens has worked as operations manager for broadband and telecom providers serving rural Arkansas — a role that introduced him to Arkansans in rural communities and small towns all over the Natural State. He is a passionate advocate for change and believes Arkansans deserve better government and more responsive and accessible Representatives. "

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

Arkansas’ farmers are struggling more than ever before. Removing the United States from NAFTA and implementing other legislation was disastrous for Arkansas’ crop producers and ranchers, and all of us experience the fallout of terrible leadership every time we go to the grocery store. We can no longer afford for our leaders to stick their heads in the sand and merely hope and pray that it will get better. We must elect leaders who will work in the trenches to build a better system and find solutions that work for Arkansans in every income bracket.

The United States spends more of our federal budget on the military than any other country in the world, yet we have more soldiers on government assistance programs than at any time in recent memory. Corporate profits continue to climb to new records, and so does the number of full-time workers who can’t support their families’ basic needs. We must forge new, equitable paths to achieve economic stability for everyone.

Our public schools are the lifeblood of our communities — especially outside of the large metro areas. We must re-commit to investing in and adapting our public education system for the workforce we have now and the workforce of tomorrow. Our schools must be equipped to embrace the future and equip our children and our grandchildren with the skills and knowledge they’ll need to thrive in a fast-changing world.

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Arkansas District 1 in 2024.

Voting information

See also: Voting in Arkansas

Election information in Arkansas: March 5, 2024, election.

What was the voter registration deadline?

  • In-person: Feb. 5, 2024
  • By mail: Received by Feb. 5, 2024
  • Online: N/A

Was absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

No

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

  • In-person: March 1, 2024
  • By mail: Received by Feb. 27, 2024
  • Online: Feb. 27, 2024

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

  • In-person: March 5, 2024
  • By mail: Received by March 5, 2024

Was early voting available to all voters?

N/A

What were the early voting start and end dates?

Feb. 20, 2024 to March 4, 2024

Were all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, was a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When were polls open on Election Day?

7:30 a.m. - 7:30 p.m. (CST)


Campaign finance

Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
Rodney Govens Democratic Party $95,239 $94,347 $892 As of November 25, 2024

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2024. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee."
** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.

District analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about voter composition, past elections, and demographics in both the district and the state.

  • District map - A map of the district in place for the election.
  • Competitiveness - Information about the competitiveness of 2024 U.S. House elections in the state.
  • Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the district and the state.
  • State party control - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.


Below was the map in use at the time of the election. Click the map below to enlarge it.

2023_01_03_ar_congressional_district_01.jpg
See also: Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2024

This section contains data on U.S. House primary election competitiveness in Arkansas.

Arkansas U.S. House competitiveness, 2014-2024
Office Districts/
offices 		Seats Open seats Candidates Possible primaries Contested Democratic primaries Contested Republican primaries % of contested primaries Incumbents in contested primaries % of incumbents in contested primaries
2024 4 4 0 9 8 0 1 12.5% 1 25.0%
2022 4 4 0 12 8 0 3 37.5% 3 75.0%
2020 4 4 0 7 8 0 0 0.0% 0 0.0%
2018 4 4 0 13 8 1 2 37.5% 2 50.0%
2016 4 4 0 6 8 0 1 12.5% 1 25.0%
2014 4 4 2 10 8 0 2 25.0% 0 0.0%

Post-filing deadline analysis

The following analysis covers all U.S. House districts up for election in Arkansas in 2024. Information below was calculated on 1/22/2024, and may differ from information shown in the table above due to candidate replacements and withdrawals after that time.

Nine candidates filed to run for Arkansas' four U.S. House districts—four Democrats and five Republicans. That's 2.25 candidates per district, fewer than the three candidates per district in 2022, but more than the 1.75 candidates in 2020. In 2018, 3.25 candidates ran per district, the most this decade.

Incumbents filed to run in every district. The last year there was an open seat in Arkansas was 2014, when two incumbents didn’t run.

The Republican primary in the 3rd district was 2024's only contested primary. Three primaries—all Republican—were contested in 2022, tying 2018 as the most this decade. No primaries were contested in 2020.

Rep. Steve Womack (R), the incumbent in the 3rd district, was the only incumbent facing a primary challenger this cycle.

Democratic and Republican candidates ran in all four districts, meaning no districts were guaranteed to either party.

Partisan Voter Index

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Heading into the 2024 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+22. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 22 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Arkansas' 1st the 25th most Republican district nationally.[5]

2020 presidential election results

The table below shows what the vote in the 2020 presidential election would have been in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by Daily Kos.

2020 presidential results in Arkansas' 1st based on 2024 district lines
Joe Biden Democratic Party Donald Trump Republican Party
28.1% 69.0%

Inside Elections Baselines

See also: Inside Elections

Inside Elections' Baseline is a figure that analyzes all federal and statewide election results from the district over the past four election cycles. The results are combined in an index estimating the strength of a typical Democratic or Republican candidate in the congressional district.[6] The table below displays the Baseline data for this district.

Inside Elections Baseline for 2024
Democratic Baseline Democratic Party Republican Baseline Republican Party Difference
28.2 69.5 D+41.3

Presidential voting history

See also: Presidential election in Arkansas, 2020

Arkansas presidential election results (1900-2020)

  • 20 Democratic wins
  • 10 Republican wins
  • 1 other win
Year 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
Winning Party D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D AI[7] R D R R R D D R R R R R R
See also: Party control of Arkansas state government

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of Arkansas' congressional delegation as of May 2024.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Arkansas
Party U.S. Senate U.S. House Total
Democratic 0 0 0
Republican 2 4 6
Independent 0 0 0
Vacancies 0 0 0
Total 2 4 6

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in Arkansas' top four state executive offices as of May 2024.

State executive officials in Arkansas, May 2024
Office Officeholder
Governor Republican Party Sarah Huckabee Sanders
Lieutenant Governor Republican Party Leslie Rutledge
Secretary of State Republican Party John Thurston
Attorney General Republican Party Tim Griffin

State legislature

Arkansas State Senate

Party As of February 2024
     Democratic Party 6
     Republican Party 29
     Independent 0
     Other 0
     Vacancies 0
Total 35

Arkansas House of Representatives

Party As of February 2024
     Democratic Party 18
     Republican Party 82
     Other 0
     Vacancies 0
Total 100

Trifecta control

The table below shows the state's trifecta status from 1992 until the 2024 election.

Arkansas Party Control: 1992-2024
Eleven years of Democratic trifectas  •  Ten years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Governor D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R
Senate D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R
House D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R

Ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in Arkansas in the 2024 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Arkansas, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2024
State Office Party Signatures required Filing fee Filing deadline Source
Arkansas U.S. House Ballot-qualified party N/A Fixed by party 11/14/2023 Source
Arkansas U.S. House Unaffiliated 3% of qualified voters in the district, or 2,000, whichever is less N/A 11/14/2023 Source

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ A majority in the U.S. House when there are no vacancies is 218 seats.
  2. ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2020 presidential results by congressional district, for new and old districts," accessed September 15, 2022
  3. ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures Website, "State Primary Election Types," accessed April 3, 2023
  4. ↑ Ballotpedia research conducted December 26, 2013, through January 3, 2014, researching and analyzing various state websites and codes.
  5. ↑ Cook Political Report, "The 2022 Cook Partisan Voting Index (Cook PVI℠)," accessed January 10, 2024
  6. ↑ Inside Elections, "Methodology: Inside Elections’ Baseline by Congressional District," December 8, 2023
  7. ↑ American Independent Party


Arkansas' current delegation to the United States Congress
Senators
John Boozman (R)
Tom Cotton (R)
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
Republican Party (6)


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