Arkansas judicial election recap, 2012
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In Arkansas this year, nearly all of the judicial races were decided in the primary election, held on May 22. Only three races made it onto the November 6 general election ballot.
Supreme Court
The race for the sole vacant seat on the Arkansas Supreme Court was decided in the primary election. Josephine Hart, a judge on the Arkansas Court of Appeals, defeated her Court of Appeals colleague Raymond Abramson by a comfortable margin, taking nearly two-thirds of the vote. Judge Hart, who spent less on her campaign than her opponent, was able to be identified as a judge on the ballot, because she was elected to her position on the Court of Appeals; Abramson, who was appointed to his appeals court position, could not use the "Judge" title, and thus was listed on the ballot as simply "Raymond Abramson." Both candidates acknowledged that being able to use the title "Judge" was likely an advantage for Hart.[1] Hart will join two other women on the seven-member Arkansas Supreme Court when her term begins in January.[2]
Court of Appeals
Six seats were open on the Arkansas Court of Appeals this year, but only one race was decided in the general election: Phillip Whiteaker defeated Jeannette Robertson on November 6 to take the District 1, Position 2 seat. Of the six judges elected to the Court of Appeals this year, four (Whiteaker, Rhonda Wood, Kenneth Hixson, and Brandon Harrison) are new to the court, while two (David Glover and Robin Wynne) are incumbents who successfully held on to their positions. The two incumbent judges were also the only two candidates who were unopposed in their races; no incumbent judges were defeated.
Trial courts
At the trial court level, a total of sixteen candidates competed for nine positions on five different Arkansas Circuit Courts. Only two races were decided in the general election: Cristi Beaumont defeated Bob Lambert for the Division 4 position on the Fourth Circuit, and Patti James defeated John Hout to capture the Division 11, Subdistrict 6.2 position on the Sixth Circuit. The other seven races were decided in the primary election in May, and four of those seven were uncontested. Only two of the sixteen candidates that ran for circuit court positions were incumbents; both of them, Mark Lindsay and Mackie Pierce, successfully held their seats, with Pierce unopposed in his bid for re-election.
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