Become part of the movement for unbiased, accessible election information. Donate today.
Arkansas judicial elections, 2016
 |
Presidential • U.S. Senate • U.S. House • State Senate • State House • State judges • Local judges • State ballot measures • School boards • Recalls • Candidate ballot access |
 |
| 2016 State Judicial Elections | |
|---|---|
2017 »
« 2015
| |
 | |
| Part 1: Overview | |
| Part 2: Supreme Courts | |
| Part 3: Partisanship | |
| Part 4: Changes in 2016 | |
Have you subscribed yet?
Join the hundreds of thousands of readers trusting Ballotpedia to keep them up to date with the latest political news. Sign up for the Daily Brew.
|
Six seats on Arkansas' state-level courts were up for election on March 1, 2016. Two seats on the Arkansas Supreme Court joined four seats on the Arkansas Court of Appeals on the ballot.
Five races were decided. The remaining seat, on the Arkansas Court of Appeals, was decided by a runoff election between James McMenis and Mark Klappenbach on November 8, 2016.
Overview
The supreme court seats up for election were held by Chief Justice Howard Brill and Associate Justice Paul Danielson heading into the election. Neither justice sought re-election. Circuit Judge John Kemp defeated sitting Associate Justice Courtney Hudson Goodson for the seat of chief justice. Circuit Judge Shawn Womack defeated attorney Clark Mason for the second supreme court seat.
The appeals court seats up for election were held by Judges Michael Kinard, Rita Gruber, Waymond Brown, and Cliff Hoofman heading into the 2016 election. Judges Hoofman and Kinard did not run for re-election. Mike Murphy defeated Cody Hiland for the seat held by Judge Hoofman. The seat held by Judge Kinard was decided in a runoff election on November 8, 2016; Mark Klappenbach defeated James McMenis. Incumbent judges Rita Gruber and Waymond Brown ran unopposed and were re-elected. Each judge elected to the court serves an eight-year term.
Candidates
Supreme Court
Chief Justice
■ Dan Kemp |
Associate Justice Position 5
■ Attorney Clark W. Mason |
Court of Appeals
District 2
|
District 5
|
District 6■ Rita Gruber (Incumbent/Unopposed) |
District 7■ Waymond Brown (Incumbent/Unopposed) |
Election results
November 8 runoff election
Mark Klappenbach defeated James McMenis in the runoff for the Arkansas Court of Appeals, District 5.
| Arkansas Court of Appeals, District 5, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Mark Klappenbach |
56.59% | 37,634 |
| James McMenis | 43.41% | 28,872 |
| Total Votes (100% reporting) | 66,506 | |
| Source: Arkansas Secretary of State Official Results | ||
March 1 general election
| Arkansas Supreme Court, Chief Justice, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Dan Kemp |
57.56% | 344,523 |
| Courtney Hudson Goodson | 42.43% | 253,941 |
| Total Votes (100% Reporting) | 598,464 | |
| Source: Arkansas Secretary of State Official ResultsSebastian County Arkansas | ||
| Arkansas Supreme Court Associate Justice Position 5, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Shawn Womack |
67.50% | 378,444 |
| Clark Mason | 32.50% | 182,182 |
| Total Votes (100% Reporting) | 560,626 | |
| Source: Arkansas Secretary of State Official Results | ||
| Arkansas Court of Appeals, District 2, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Mike Murphy |
55.97% | 56,229 |
| Cody Hiland | 44.03% | 44,230 |
| Total Votes (100% Reporting) | 100,459 | |
| Source: Arkansas Secretary of State Official Results | ||
| Arkansas Court of Appeals, District 5, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| James McMenis |
42.12% | 16,577 |
| Mark Klappenbach |
38.92% | 15,317 |
| Job Serebrov | 18.95% | 7,459 |
| Total Votes (100% Reporting) | 39,353 | |
| Source: Arkansas Secretary of State Official Results | ||
| Arkansas Court of Appeals, District 6, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | ||
| Rita Gruber Incumbent | ||
| Source: Unopposed race; no vote totals reported. | ||
| Arkansas Court of Appeals, District 7, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | ||
| Waymond Brown Incumbent | ||
| Source: Unopposed race; no vote totals reported. | ||
Process
- See also: Judicial selection in Arkansas
Nonpartisan general election
Judicial candidates compete in a nonpartisan general election. These general elections take place on the same day as the primary elections for non-judge races in the state.[2] If no candidate wins a majority, the two candidates with the most votes participate in a runoff. If a runoff is required, it takes place on the same day as the general election for partisan races, and runoff candidates appear on the general election ballot.[3][4]
Filing
Candidates choose whether to file by petition or pay a filing fee.[3]
Petition filing
There are different requirements for different courts for candidates filing by petition. In all cases, the "number of electors" refers to the number of electors in the district who voted for governor in the preceding election. Either a flat number of signatures or the indicated percentage of electors, whichever is smaller, is used.
- Supreme court: 10,000 signatures or 3 percent of the number of electors
- Court of appeals: 2,000 signatures or 3 percent of the number of electors[3]
Fee filing
The State Board of Election Commissioners established the following fees for candidates not filing by petition. The candidate pays the fee to the secretary of state upon filing:
- Chief justice of the supreme court: 6 percent of the annual salary
- Associate justice of the supreme court: 6 percent of the annual salary
- Court of appeals: 5 percent of the annual salary[3]
State profile
| Demographic data for Arkansas | ||
|---|---|---|
| Arkansas | U.S. | |
| Total population: | 2,977,853 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 52,035 | 3,531,905 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 78% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 15.5% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 1.4% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 0.6% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0.2% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 2.1% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 6.9% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 84.8% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 21.1% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $41,371 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 22.9% | 11.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Arkansas. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
Presidential voting pattern
- See also: Presidential voting trends in Arkansas
Arkansas voted Republican in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.
Pivot Counties (2016)
Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, one is located in Arkansas, accounting for 0.5 percent of the total pivot counties.[5]
Pivot Counties (2020)
In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Arkansas had one Retained Pivot County, 0.55 percent of all Retained Pivot Counties.
More Arkansas coverage on Ballotpedia
- Elections in Arkansas
- United States congressional delegations from Arkansas
- Public policy in Arkansas
- Endorsers in Arkansas
- Arkansas fact checks
- More...
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Arkansas court elections' OR 'Arkansas Supreme Court' OR 'Arkansas judicial election 2016'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Arkansas Secretary of State, "Candidate Information: 2016 Preferential Primary and Nonpartisan General Election," accessed December 29, 2015
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "Elections division," 2011, accessed April 24, 2014
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Arkansas Secretary of State, "2014 nonpartisan elections calendar," accessed April 24, 2014
- ↑ Justia US Law, "§ 7-10-102 - Nonpartisan election of judges and justices," 2012, accessed April 30, 2014
- ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
| ||||||||||
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
