Arkansas' 4th Congressional District election, 2026
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← 2024
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| Arkansas' 4th Congressional District |
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| Democratic primary Republican primary General election |
| Election details |
| Filing deadline: November 12, 2025 |
| Primary: March 3, 2026 Primary runoff: March 31, 2026 General: November 3, 2026 |
| How to vote |
| Poll times:
7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. |
| Race ratings |
DDHQ and The Hill: Pending 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, 2026 |
| See also |
U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th Arkansas elections, 2026 U.S. Congress elections, 2026 U.S. Senate elections, 2026 U.S. House elections, 2026 |
All U.S. House districts, including the 4th Congressional District of Arkansas, are holding elections in 2026. The general election is November 3, 2026. The primary was March 3, 2026, and a primary runoff is March 31, 2026. The filing deadline was November 12, 2025. The outcome of this race will affect the partisan balance of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 120th Congress. All 435 U.S. House districts are up for election.
Currently, Republicans have a 218-214 majority with three vacancies in the chamber.[1] To read more about the U.S. House elections taking place this year, click here. For more information about the primaries in this election, click on the links below:
- Arkansas' 4th Congressional District election, 2026 (March 3 Democratic primary)
- Arkansas' 4th Congressional District election, 2026 (March 3 Republican primary)
Candidates and election results
General election
The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
General election for U.S. House Arkansas District 4
Incumbent Bruce Westerman and James Russell are running in the general election for U.S. House Arkansas District 4 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
| Bruce Westerman (R) | ||
James Russell (D) ![]() | ||
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Arkansas District 4
James Russell defeated Steven O'Donnell in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Arkansas District 4 on March 3, 2026.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | James Russell ![]() | 53.0 | 13,228 | |
Steven O'Donnell ![]() | 47.0 | 11,740 | ||
| Total votes: 24,968 | ||||
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Bruce Westerman advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Arkansas District 4.
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.
Party: Democratic Party
Incumbent: No
Submitted Biography: "From his family's farming in Lafayette Co beginning in the 1860s to working with youth groups in Columbia Co in the 1990s, James Russell has been deeply invested in securing the best future possible for every Arkansan and American. Since 2014, he has also been providing statewide mental healthcare, a commitment that he believes will shape the political landscape of Arkansas leading up to the 2026 midterm elections. James is a husband, father, uncle, and now great-uncle. He studied a joint Pre-Med/Pre-Law curriculum at University of Central Arkansas in Conway, AR that focused on legal, political, and ethical theory. He is an avid lover and creator of music, art, literature, and nature who also has an interest in classic cars. James is a supporter of 2A rights who believes in responsible gun ownership. He believes in preserving individua rights, including the right to bodily autonomy for everyone."
Voting information
- See also: Voting in Arkansas
Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses
Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
Survey responses from candidates in this race
Click on a candidate's name to visit their Ballotpedia page.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
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James Russell (D)
Politics today are messed up. Some politicians only care about fame, money, and power. But that’s not what the job is about.
Leaders should listen to the people, not hide from them. They should go to town halls, not just big money events.
A good leader stands up for the people, follows the Constitution, and works with others to make life better for everyone—not just the rich or powerful.
Economic Fairness -
Big companies are making record profits, but workers' pay hasn’t kept up. That’s not right.
The cost of living keeps going up—housing, groceries, and everything else. But the minimum wage hasn’t gone up to match.
We need fair laws that raise wages, make sure everyone gets equal pay for equal work, and treat all workers fairly.
This will help working families now and build a stronger, more fair economy for the future.
Fighting Corruption -
For years, the rich and powerful have taken more and more, while the rest of us struggle. That’s not fair, and it needs to change.
We need to give power back to regular people—not let billionaires and big corporations run everything.
That means making taxes fairer. Working people should pay less, and the rich should pay their fair share. We also need to close tax loopholes and stop the games the super-rich use to avoid paying taxes.
James Russell (D)
Improved economic conditions for working class Americans. Ensuring that everyone has a safe, stable living environment. Bringing rationality, reason, and understanding back to public discourse.
Ensuring that everyone's voice is heard, not just the wealthiest among us.
Campaign finance
| Name | Party | Receipts* | Disbursements** | Cash on hand | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bruce Westerman | Republican Party | $1,848,430 | $699,320 | $4,182,671 | As of February 11, 2026 |
| Steven O'Donnell | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| James Russell | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
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Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2026. 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." |
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General election race ratings
- See also: Race rating definitions and methods
Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:
- Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
- Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
- Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.[2]
- Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.
Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.[3][4][5]
| Race ratings: Arkansas' 4th Congressional District election, 2026 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race tracker | Race ratings | ||||||||
| 3/10/2026 | 3/3/2026 | 2/24/2026 | 2/17/2026 | ||||||
| The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter | Solid Republican | Solid Republican | Solid Republican | Solid Republican | |||||
| Decision Desk HQ and The Hill | Pending | Pending | Pending | Pending | |||||
| Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales | Solid Republican | Solid Republican | Solid Republican | Solid Republican | |||||
| Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball | Safe Republican | Safe Republican | Safe Republican | Safe Republican | |||||
| Note: Ballotpedia reviews external race ratings every week throughout the election season and posts weekly updates even if the media outlets have not revised their ratings during that week. | |||||||||
Ballot access
The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in Arkansas in the 2026 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Arkansas, click here.
| Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2026 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Office | Party | Signatures required | Filing fee | Filing deadline | Source |
| Arkansas | U.S. House | Ballot-qualified party | N/A | Fixed by party | 11/12/2025 | Source |
| Arkansas | U.S. House | Unaffiliated | 3% of qualified voters in the district, or 2,000, whichever is less | N/A | 5/1/2026 | Source |
District history
The section below details election results for this office in elections dating back to 2020.
General election
General election for U.S. House Arkansas District 4
Incumbent Bruce Westerman (R) defeated Risie Howard (D) in the general election for U.S. House Arkansas District 4 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Bruce Westerman (R) | 72.9 | 197,046 |
| | Risie Howard (D) | 27.1 | 73,207 | |
| Total votes: 270,253 | ||||
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- John White (Independent)
Democratic primary
The Democratic primary scheduled for March 5, 2024, was canceled. Risie Howard (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Arkansas District 4 without appearing on the ballot.
Republican primary
The Republican primary scheduled for March 5, 2024, was canceled. Incumbent Bruce Westerman (R) advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Arkansas District 4 without appearing on the ballot.
General election
General election for U.S. House Arkansas District 4
Incumbent Bruce Westerman (R) defeated John White (D) and Gregory Maxwell (L) in the general election for U.S. House Arkansas District 4 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Bruce Westerman (R) | 71.0 | 153,850 |
| | John White (D) | 26.2 | 56,745 | |
| | Gregory Maxwell (L) ![]() | 2.8 | 6,101 | |
| Total votes: 216,696 | ||||
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary
The Democratic primary scheduled for May 24, 2022, was canceled. John White (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Arkansas District 4 without appearing on the ballot.
Republican primary
The Republican primary scheduled for May 24, 2022, was canceled. Incumbent Bruce Westerman (R) advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Arkansas District 4 without appearing on the ballot.
Libertarian Party convention
Libertarian convention for U.S. House Arkansas District 4
Gregory Maxwell (L) advanced from the Libertarian Party convention for U.S. House Arkansas District 4 on February 20, 2022.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Gregory Maxwell ![]() |
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
General election
General election for U.S. House Arkansas District 4
Incumbent Bruce Westerman (R) defeated William Hanson (D) and Frank Gilbert (L) in the general election for U.S. House Arkansas District 4 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Bruce Westerman (R) | 69.7 | 191,617 |
| | William Hanson (D) ![]() | 27.5 | 75,750 | |
| | Frank Gilbert (L) | 2.8 | 7,668 | |
| Total votes: 275,035 | ||||
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary
The Democratic primary scheduled for March 3, 2020, was canceled. William Hanson (D) advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Arkansas District 4 without appearing on the ballot.
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
Republican primary
The Republican primary scheduled for March 3, 2020, was canceled. Incumbent Bruce Westerman (R) advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Arkansas District 4 without appearing on the ballot.
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 2026 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 is the district map in place for this election. Click the map below to enlarge it.

This section contains data on U.S. House primary election competitiveness in Arkansas.
Post-filing deadline analysis
The following analysis covers all U.S. House districts up for election in Arkansas in 2026. Information below was calculated on Nov. 12, 2025, and may differ from information shown in the table above due to candidate replacements and withdrawals after that time.
Eleven candidates — six Democrats and five Republicans — ran for Arkansas’ four U.S. House districts. That’s 2.8 candidates per district. There were 2.3 candidates per district in 2024, three in 2022, 1.8 in 2020, 3.3 in 2018, 1.5 in 2016, and 2.5 in 2014.
No districts were open in 2026, meaning all incumbents — four Republicans — ran for re-election. The last year there was an open district was 2014, when two were open.
Three primaries — two Democratic and one Republican — were contested in 2026. In total, there was one contested primary in 2024, three in 2022, zero in 2020, three in 2018, one in 2016, and two in 2014.
Four candidates — two Democrats and two Republicans — ran for the 2nd district, the most candidates to run for a district in 2026.
Rep. French Hill (R-2nd) was the only incumbent who faced a primary challenger in 2026. There was one incumbent in a contested primary in 2024, three in 2022, none in 2020, two in 2018, one in 2016, and none in 2014.
Candidates filed to run in the Republican and Democratic primaries in all four districts, meaning no districts were guaranteed to either party.Partisan Voter Index
Heading into the 2026 elections, based on results from the 2024 and 2020 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district is R+20. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 20 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Arkansas' 4th the 34th most Republican district nationally.[6]
2020 presidential election results
The table below shows what the vote in the 2024 presidential election was in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by The Downballot.
| Kamala Harris | Donald Trump |
|---|---|
| 29.0% | 69.0% |
Presidential voting history
- See also: Presidential election in Arkansas, 2024
Arkansas presidential election results (1900-2024)
- 20 Democratic wins
- 11 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 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | R |
Congressional delegation
The table below displays the partisan composition of Arkansas' congressional delegation as of October 2025.
| 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 October 2025.
| Office | Officeholder |
|---|---|
| Governor | |
| Lieutenant Governor | |
| Secretary of State | |
| Attorney General |
State legislature
Arkansas State Senate
| Party | As of October 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 6 | |
| Republican Party | 28 | |
| Other | 0 | |
| Vacancies | 1 | |
| Total | 35 | |
Arkansas House of Representatives
| Party | As of October 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 19 | |
| Republican Party | 80 | |
| Other | 0 | |
| Vacancies | 1 | |
| Total | 100 | |
Trifecta control
Arkansas Party Control: 1992-2025
Eleven years of Democratic trifectas • Eleven 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 | 25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 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 | 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 | R |
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ A majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, when there are no vacancies, is 218 seats.
- ↑ Inside Elections also uses Tilt ratings to indicate an even smaller advantage and greater competitiveness.
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Nathan Gonzalez," April 19, 2018
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Kyle Kondik," April 19, 2018
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Charlie Cook," April 22, 2018
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "2025 Cook PVI℠: District Map and List (119th Congress)," accessed July 1, 2025
- ↑ American Independent Party
