Chris Olson
Christopher Olson (Libertarian Party) ran for election for Arkansas Secretary of State. He lost in the general election on November 6, 2018.
Olson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2018. Click here to read the survey answers.
Olson was a 2016 Libertarian candidate for District 61 of the Arkansas House of Representatives. Olson was the Libertarian nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas in the 2014 elections.[1] He was nominated at the Arkansas Libertarian Party's annual convention on February 22, 2014. Chris Olson lost the general election on November 4, 2014.
Olson is a Libertarian activist. He works in mental healthcare.
Elections
2018
General election
General election for Arkansas Secretary of State
John Thurston defeated Susan Inman and Christopher Olson in the general election for Arkansas Secretary of State on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | John Thurston (R) | 60.6 | 537,581 |
 | Susan Inman (D) | 36.5 | 323,644 | |
 | Christopher Olson (L)  | 2.9 | 25,320 | |
| Total votes: 886,545 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Arkansas Secretary of State
Susan Inman advanced from the Democratic primary for Arkansas Secretary of State on May 22, 2018.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Susan Inman |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Arkansas Secretary of State
John Thurston defeated Trevor Drown in the Republican primary for Arkansas Secretary of State on May 22, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | John Thurston | 52.6 | 100,794 |
 | Trevor Drown | 47.4 | 90,927 | |
| Total votes: 191,721 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
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2016
Ballotpedia's analysis revealed that only 42 of the 100 seats up for election in 2016 involved competition between Democrats and Republicans. This made it numerically impossible for Democrats to take control of either Arkansas legislative chamber in 2016.
The reason for the low competition was that candidates were in safe districts for their parties. Between 1972 and 2014, an upward trend in uncontested state legislative elections occurred.
The Democratic Party of Arkansas focused its 2016 efforts on the state’s House of Representatives. Without the numbers to win the state Senate, H.L. Moody, communications director for the Democratic Party of Arkansas, told Ballotpedia that the party’s goal was to “start building back where we can,” beginning with the House.
Ballotpedia spoke to political analyst Richard Winger, who said that the early primary deadline for the 2016 elections was a possible factor as well, making it difficult for Democrats to recruit candidates early.
The primary election was held on March 1, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing period began at noon local time on November 2, 2015, and ended at noon local time on November 9, 2015.[2]
Incumbent Scott Baltz defeated Marsh Davis and Chris Olson in the Arkansas House of Representatives District 61 general election.[3]
| Arkansas House of Representatives, District 61 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Scott Baltz Incumbent |
50.44% | 5,559 | |
| Republican | Marsh Davis | 45.33% | 4,996 | |
| Libertarian | Chris Olson | 4.24% | 467 | |
| Total Votes | 11,022 | |||
| Source: Arkansas Secretary of State | ||||
Incumbent Scott Baltz ran unopposed in the Arkansas House of Representatives District 61 Democratic Primary.[4][5]
| Arkansas House of Representatives, District 61 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic | Scott Baltz Incumbent (unopposed) | |
Marsh Davis ran unopposed in the Arkansas House of Representatives District 61 Republican Primary.[4][5]
| Arkansas House of Representatives, District 61 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican | Marsh Davis (unopposed) | |
2014
Olson ran for election to the office of Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas. He was nominated by delegates of the Arkansas Libertarian Party at the party's annual nominating convention on February 22, 2014.[1]The general election took place on November 4, 2014.
Results
| Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Tim Griffin |
57.2% | 479,673 | |
| Democratic | John Burkhalter | 38.6% | 324,260 | |
| Libertarian | Chris Olson | 4.2% | 35,257 | |
| Total Votes | 839,190 | |||
| Election results via Arkansas Secretary of State | ||||
Race background
Debate over necessity of lieutenant governor's office
The office of Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas was vacant throughout 2014, prompting some state legislators and one lieutenant gubernatorial candidate to argue for abolishing the office or reducing related expenses. Libertarian candidate Chris Olson supported a significantly reduced budget for the office and lobbying the legislature to abolish the position. Tim Griffin (R) and John Burkhalter (D) indicated that they would use the office to support economic growth and vocational education.[6]
Ballot access for political parties
- See also: Ballot access requirements in Arkansas
In Arkansas, the process to establish a political party is tied to the votes cast in a presidential or gubernatorial election. In order to initially put candidates on the ballot, political parties must submit a petition with 10,000 signatures. In order to maintain that status beyond the election year in which they submit such a petition, their candidate for governor or president must receive at least 3 percent of the votes cast for that office.[7][8]
In 2012, both the Libertarian and Green Parties of Arkansas qualified to put candidates on the ballot, but then their candidates did not receive enough votes for the parties to maintain their ballot status. In fall 2013, both parties submitted new petitions and were qualified to put candidates on the 2014 ballot.[9][10][11] In order to maintain their status as political parties without needing to petition for the 2016 elections, their candidate for governor needed to receive at least 3 percent of the vote. Frank Gilbert (L) received 1.9 percent of the vote and Josh Drake (G) received 1.1 percent of the vote in the gubernatorial election.[12]
Polls
| Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Tim Griffin (R) | John Burkhalter (D) | Chris Olson (L) | Undecided | Margin of error | Sample size | |||||||||||||
| Public Policy Polling September 18-21, 2014 | 42% | 36% | 4% | 18% | +/-2.6 | 1,453 | |||||||||||||
| Public Policy Polling August 1-3, 2014 | 41% | 32% | 6% | 21% | +/-3 | 1,066 | |||||||||||||
| AVERAGES | 41.5% | 34% | 5% | 19.5% | +/-2.8 | 1,259.5 | |||||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
- Arkansas House of Representatives
- Arkansas House of Representatives District 61
- Arkansas House of Representatives elections, 2016
- Arkansas State Legislature
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 THV11.com, "Libertarian Party holds annual state convention," February 22, 2014
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "2016 Election Dates," accessed November 17, 2015
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "2016 General Election and Nonpartisan Runoff Election," accessed November 23, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Arkansas Secretary of State, "Candidate Information," accessed July 25, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Arkansas Secretary of State, "2016 Primary Election Results," accessed April 19, 2016
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedabolish - ↑ Arkansas Code, "Title 7, Section 1-101-21," accessed December 3, 2013
- ↑ Arkansas House Bill 2036, "An Act To Amend the Law Concerning Certain Procedural Dates In Election; To Amend the Law Concerning Certain Petitions; And For Other Purposes," Approved April 18, 2013
- ↑ Libertarian Party of Arkansas Website, "History of the Libertarian Party of Arkansas," accessed December 5, 2013
- ↑ Green Party of Arkansas Website, "Ballot Access," accessed December 5, 2013
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State Mark Martin, "New Political Party Petition--Green Party," November 6, 2013
- ↑ UALR Public Radio, "Poll: Ross, Hutchinson In Virtual Dead Heat In Governor’s Race," April 6, 2014
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