James Sturch
James Sturch (Republican Party) was a member of the Arkansas State Senate, representing District 19. He assumed office on January 14, 2019. He left office on January 9, 2023.
Sturch (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Arkansas State Senate to represent District 22. He lost in the Republican primary runoff on June 21, 2022.
Sturch is a former Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives, representing District 63 from 2015 to 2019.
Biography
Sturch graduated from the University of Arkansas with bachelor's degrees in political science and secondary education. His professional experience includes working as a high school social studies teacher.[1]
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.
2021-2022
Sturch was assigned to the following committees:
- Senate Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development Committee
- Senate Education Committee
- Senate Rules, Resolutions and Memorials Committee, Vice-chair
- Girls State Committee
- Legislative Joint Auditing Committee
2019-2020
Sturch was assigned to the following committees:
- Academic Facilities Oversight Committee
- Senate Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development Committee
- Senate Education Committee
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Arkansas committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Education |
| • State Agencies and Governmental Affairs |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Sturch served on the following committees:
| Arkansas committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative and Military Affairs |
| • Public Transportation |
| • Rules |
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2022
See also: Arkansas State Senate elections, 2022
General election
General election for Arkansas State Senate District 22
John Payton won election in the general election for Arkansas State Senate District 22 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | John Payton (R) | 100.0 | 24,186 |
| Total votes: 24,186 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary runoff election
Republican primary runoff for Arkansas State Senate District 22
John Payton defeated incumbent James Sturch in the Republican primary runoff for Arkansas State Senate District 22 on June 21, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | John Payton | 58.6 | 3,733 |
 | James Sturch | 41.4 | 2,633 | |
| Total votes: 6,366 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Arkansas State Senate District 22
John Payton and incumbent James Sturch advanced to a runoff. They defeated Ethan J. Barnes in the Republican primary for Arkansas State Senate District 22 on May 24, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | John Payton | 41.3 | 6,281 |
| ✔ | | James Sturch | 35.2 | 5,353 |
 | Ethan J. Barnes | 23.5 | 3,571 | |
| Total votes: 15,205 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Ronald Laslo (R)
2018
- See also: Arkansas State Senate elections, 2018
General election
General election for Arkansas State Senate District 19
James Sturch defeated Susi Epperson in the general election for Arkansas State Senate District 19 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | James Sturch (R) | 72.9 | 18,563 |
 | Susi Epperson (D) | 27.1 | 6,914 | |
| Total votes: 25,477 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = 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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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Arkansas State Senate District 19
Susi Epperson advanced from the Democratic primary for Arkansas State Senate District 19 on May 22, 2018.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Susi Epperson |
| ||||
| = 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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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Arkansas State Senate District 19
James Sturch defeated incumbent Linda Collins-Smith in the Republican primary for Arkansas State Senate District 19 on May 22, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | James Sturch | 52.9 | 5,309 |
 | Linda Collins-Smith | 47.1 | 4,735 | |
| Total votes: 10,044 | |||
| = 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 James Sturch ran unopposed in the Arkansas House of Representatives District 63 general election.[3]
| Arkansas House of Representatives, District 63 General Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican |  James Sturch Incumbent (unopposed) | |
| Source: Arkansas Secretary of State | ||
Incumbent James Sturch defeated Phillip Finch in the Arkansas House of Representatives District 63 Republican Primary.[4][5]
| Arkansas House of Representatives, District 63 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | James Sturch Incumbent |
70.16% | 3,439 | |
| Republican | Phillip Finch | 29.84% | 1,463 | |
| Total Votes | 4,902 | |||
2014
Elections for the Arkansas House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election took place on May 20, 2014; a runoff election took place where necessary on June 10, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 3, 2014. Lackey Moody was unopposed in the Democratic primary. James Sturch defeated Anne Moore in the Republican primary. Moody was defeated by Sturch in the general election.[6][7]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | James Sturch |
61.2% | 5,343 | |
| Democratic | Lackey Moody | 38.8% | 3,386 | |
| Total Votes | 8,729 | |||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
James Sturch |
61.9% | 1,050 |
| Anne Moore | 38.1% | 646 |
| Total Votes | 1,696 | |
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
James Sturch did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2016
Sturch's campaign website highlighted the following issues:
| “ | EDUCATION: Sturch believes in education as a key for young people to succeed in life.
GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY: Sturch believes government closest to the people is best, and wants to work to ensure taxpayer money is spent wisely. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: The son of conservative working-class parents, Sturch knows the value of a dollar and the efforts of hard work, and pledges to promote tax policies that are fair and honest. He will also work hard to encourage business-friendly policies in order to attract more higher-paying jobs to Arkansas.[8] |
” |
| —James Sturch[9] | ||
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.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Arkansas scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2022
In 2022, the Arkansas State Legislature was in session from February 14 to March 15.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to small business issues.
2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Arkansas State Legislature was in session from January 11 to October 15.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Arkansas State Legislature was in session from April 8 to April 24.
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2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Arkansas State Legislature was in session from January 14 through April 24.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the Arkansas State Legislature was in session from February 12 through March 12. The legislature held a special session from March 13 to March 15.
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2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the 91st Arkansas State Legislature was in session from January 9 through May 1. The Legislature held a special session from May 1 to May 3.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the 90th Arkansas State Legislature was in session from April 13 through May 9. The Legislature held a three-day special session from April 6 to April 8 over healthcare. The Legislature held a second special session from May 19 to May 23 over transportation.
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2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the 90th Arkansas State Legislature was in session from January 12 through April 2.
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See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Facebook, "James Sturch for State Representative District 63," accessed September 3, 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
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "Candidate Information," accessed July 25, 2016
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "2016 Primary Election Results," accessed April 19, 2016
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "Candidate Information," accessed March 5, 2014
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "Official primary election results," accessed June 26, 2014
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ James Sturch.com, "The Issues," accessed February 17, 2016
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Linda Collins-Smith (R) |
Arkansas State Senate District 19 2019-2023 |
Succeeded by Dave Wallace (R) |
| Preceded by - |
Arkansas House of Representatives District 63 2015-2019 |
Succeeded by Stu Smith (R) |
