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John Burkhalter
John Burkhalter was a Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas in the 2014 elections.[1][2] John Burkhalter lost the general election on November 4, 2014.
Burkhalter is a former Arkansas Highway Commissioner. After declaring his candidacy for the 2014 lieutenant governor election, Burkenhalter resigned from the commissioner post in October 2013 in order to give his undivided attention to the campaign.[3]
Burkenhalter has served on numerous commissions and boards such as the Pathfinder Schools and the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. He is the past Chairman for the Lung Association and UAMS (Gala).[4]
Education
- University of Arkansas (1980) Civil Engineering[4]
Elections
2014
Burkhalter ran for election to the office of Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas.[5] Burkhalter was unopposed for the Democratic nomination in the primary on May 20, 2014. He lost to Republican Tim Griffin in the general election 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.
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "John + Burkhalter + Arkansas + Lieutenant + Governor + Arkansas"
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ John Burkhalter for Lieutenant Governor 2014 Official Campaign Website, "Homepage," accessed July 23, 2013
- ↑ Arkansas Times, "Dianne Curry Joins race for lieutenant governor," June 11, 2013
- ↑ Arkansas Times, "John Burkhalter resigns from Highway Commission to focus on lieutenant governor race," October 4, 2013
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department, John Burkhalter - Biography, accessed August 30, 2013
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedltgov14 - ↑ 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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