Arkansas Supreme Court elections, 2014

Last updated: November 2014 Election highlights Three supreme court seats were up for election in 2014. There was only one contested seat. Candidates for the other two seats ran unopposed. Donald Corbin retired at the end of 2014. Robin Wynne won election to his seat. Robert L. Brown retired in 2013. Rhonda Wood was elected to his seat.

2015 → ← 2013
Judicial Elections
Judicial elections, 2014
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Candidates by state
Supreme court elections

On the ballot: Corbin seat (Position 2)

2014 candidates for the Arkansas Supreme Court
Position 2
Tim Cullen (Arkansas)	Incumbent: No Primary vote: n/a Election vote: 48.0%A
Robin Wynne	Incumbent: No Primary vote: n/a Election vote: 52.0%A

Justice Donald Corbin decided to leave the bench for health reasons at the end of his term in 2014. He had served on the court since 1991. He won re-election in 1998 and 2006.

Tim Cullen, a lawyer from Maumelle, filed to run for the seat but lost the election.

Robin Wynne also filed to run for Corbin's seat and defeated Cullen in the May 20, 2014, election. Wynne, at the time of the election, served on the Arkansas Court of Appeals. He previously served as a county and city court judge.

On the ballot: Baker seat (Position 6)

2014 candidate for the Arkansas Supreme Court
Position 6
Karen R. Baker	Incumbent: Yes Primary vote: n/a Election vote: 100%A

Justice Karen Baker ran unopposed to retain her seat on the court. She had served on the supreme court since her election in 2012. Her seat was previously held by Annabelle Clinton Imber, the first woman to be elected to the Arkansas Supreme Court.

On the ballot: Brown seat (Position 7)

2014 candidate for the Arkansas Supreme Court
Position 7
Rhonda Wood	Incumbent: No Primary vote: n/a Election vote: 100%A

This seat was held by Cliff Hoofman. Hoofman was appointed to the seat in 2012 by Governor Mike Beebe, and began serving after Justice Robert L. Brown officially retired from the bench on January 1, 2013. Hoofman could not run for the seat because he had been appointed to it.

Rhonda Wood ran, unopposed, to fill Brown's seat and won the May 2014 election. Wood was a judge on the Arkansas Court of Appeals. She was elected to that court in 2013. Wood has served as a judge since 2006, when she was appointed to the 20th Circuit Court by former Governor Mike Huckabee. Before becoming a judge, Wood worked as an attorney in private practice. She also served as the dean of the University of Arkansas Law School.

Voter turnout

Of the state's 1,624,187 registered voters, 338,658 participated in the election. Voter turnout around the state averaged 20.85 percent. Little River County had the highest voter turnout percentage with 50.16 percent. Union County had the lowest voter turnout rate, with 5.24 percent.

Political composition

Seven justices sit on the court--a chief justice and six associate justices. Supreme court justices in Arkansas are elected in nonpartisan elections and serve eight-year terms. Canon 4 of the Arkansas Code of Judicial Conduct prohibits candidates for judicial office from publicly affiliating themselves with a political party.

Campaign donations

Canon 4 of the state's code of judicial conduct prevents judicial candidates from asking for or accepting donations to their campaign. Any contributions may only be accepted, or spent, by a candidate's campaign committee. The campaign committee can begin accepting and requesting donations no earlier than 180 days before the election. The committee can continue to raise funds for 45 days after the last election race in which a candidate participates. A 2007 Arkansas Supreme Court case found that it is constitutionally acceptable to have a rule in place which prevents candidates from directly soliciting their own campaign contributions. According to the court, the rule helps to prevent the appearance of impropriety and assures judicial impartiality.

Contributions

Total monetary contributions received by candidates:

Position 2 - Corbin seat:

Candidate	Total contributions
Tim Cullen	$127,932.13
Robin Wynne	$99,295.00

Position 6 - Baker seat:

Candidate	Total contributions
Karen R. Baker	$49,285.00

Position 7 - Brown seat:

Candidate	Total contributions
Rhonda Wood	$154,900.00

Noteworthy events

The following articles were current as of the dates listed.

Dark money and dirty politics cast pall over state supreme court race May 22, 2014

Click for story→

See also: JP Election Brief: Don't discount the primaries! Many races already concluded Votes in the state's only contested state supreme court race are still being counted. However, according to the numbers available on the Arkansas Secretary of State's website, Robin Wynne, currently a judge on the Arkansas Court of Appeals, holds a slim lead over appellate attorney Tim Cullen. Unfortunately, an ad critical of Cullen, which aired during the final days before the election, attracted more attention than the race itself. The ad claimed Cullen "worked to throw out the sentence of a repeat sexual predator, arguing that child pornography was a 'victimless crime'." Five days before the election, Factcheck.org looked into the facts behind the 30-second TV spot, which was paid for by the Law Enforcement Alliance of America (LEAA). The ad said Cullen called child pornography a "victimless crime" in a brief he wrote while representing a client on an appeal. Cullen told the organization the words he used in the brief were misinterpreted and taken out of context. Cullen put out an ad of his own. In it he stated that LEAA's ad was a lie and went on to criticize Wynne, saying "my opponent knows it." He also said, "I do not and have never believed that child pornography is a victimless crime." Factcheck.org criticized Cullen's ad, saying there was no evidence to show Wynne's campaign was responsible for putting out the ad. The organization pointed out Wynne denied having anything to do with the ad on his Facebook page. However, the organization decried the attack on Cullen saying, “ The LEAA attack ad is beyond the pale. It comes at the 11th hour and distorts the record in a blatant appeal to fear and emotion. It is funded by special interests, but we don’t know the real intent of those behind the ad. ” —Factcheck.org According to a blog for the Arkansas Times, the ad, estimated to have cost as much as $400,000, seemed unnecessary in a race between two candidates who weren't very well-known or controversial. The blog speculates that perhaps the ad wasn't really about either Cullen or Wynne, but instead was more of a trial run to test the effects of such an ad during a race for a seat on the top court. Two years from now, the state's chief justice seat will be up for grabs.

See also

• Arkansas judicial elections, 2014
• Arkansas Supreme Court

External links

• Arkansas Secretary of State, "Elections information," June 1, 2014
• Arkansas Courts, "Amendment 80"
• Arkansas Courts, "Judicial elections guide," 2014

Footnotes

Arkansas courts

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Federal courts:

Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Arkansas, Western District of Arkansas • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Arkansas, Western District of Arkansas

State courts:

Arkansas Supreme Court • Arkansas Court of Appeals • Arkansas Circuit Courts • Arkansas District Courts • Arkansas City Courts

State resources:

Courts in Arkansas • Arkansas judicial elections • Judicial selection in Arkansas