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Mickey Gates
Mickey Gates (Republican Party) was a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives, representing District 22. He assumed office on January 12, 2015. He left office on October 11, 2019.
Gates (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Arkansas House of Representatives to represent District 22. He won in the general election on November 6, 2018.
On October 11, 2019, Gates was expelled from the Arkansas House of Representatives by a vote of the house membership after pleading no contest to charges of failing to pay state income taxes.[1] Gates had been arrested in June 2018 and charged with failure to pay state income taxes from 2012 to 2017. Authorities alleged at that time that he owed the state nearly $260,000. Click here for more information.
Gates served on the Quorum Court of Garland County for 20 years.[2]
Biography
Assemblymember Gates' hometown is Hot Springs, AR. He graduated from Borger High School. He served as the president of The Stonebridge Collection starting in 1999 and served as judge of the Garland County Quorum Court from 1994 to 2014.[3] In addition, Gates has served on the board of Change Point Pregnancy Care Center, was the chairman of Garland County Republican Party, and was chairman of Garland County Young Republicans.[4]
In 2016, Gates was elected to the Arkansas State House of Representatives to represent Arkansas' 22nd district, comprising portions of Garland and Saline County. Upon election, he became a sitting member of the House Education Committee and the House Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative and Military Affairs Committee.[4]
In 2018, Gates was arrested for failing to file state tax returns for the years 2012 to 2017. He pleaded no contest to the charges and agreed to pay at least $74,789 in taxes back to the state.[5]
Committee assignments
2019-2020
Gates was assigned to the following committees:
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Arkansas committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative and Military Affairs |
| • Education |
| • Joint Budget |
| • Joint Budget |
| • Joint Performance Review |
| • Joint Performance Review |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Gates served on the following committees:
| Arkansas committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative and Military Affairs |
| • Public Transportation |
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
2018
General election
General election for Arkansas House of Representatives District 22
Incumbent Mickey Gates defeated Kevin Rogers in the general election for Arkansas House of Representatives District 22 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Mickey Gates (R) | 65.4 | 8,293 |
 | Kevin Rogers (D) | 34.6 | 4,390 | |
| Total votes: 12,683 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Arkansas House of Representatives District 22
Kevin Rogers advanced from the Democratic primary for Arkansas House of Representatives District 22 on May 22, 2018.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Kevin Rogers |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Arkansas House of Representatives District 22
Incumbent Mickey Gates defeated Don Pierce in the Republican primary for Arkansas House of Representatives District 22 on May 22, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mickey Gates | 63.2 | 2,327 |
| Don Pierce | 36.8 | 1,356 | ||
| Total votes: 3,683 | |||
| = candidate completed 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.[6]
Incumbent Mickey Gates ran unopposed in the Arkansas House of Representatives District 22 general election.[7]
| Arkansas House of Representatives, District 22 General Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican |  Mickey Gates Incumbent (unopposed) | |
| Source: Arkansas Secretary of State | ||
Incumbent Mickey Gates ran unopposed in the Arkansas House of Representatives District 22 Republican Primary.[8][9]
| Arkansas House of Representatives, District 22 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican | Mickey Gates Incumbent (unopposed) | |
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. Mickey Gates defeated Donald Laymon in the Republican primary and was unchallenged in the general election.[10][11]
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Mickey Gates |
59% | 2,690 |
| Donald Laymon | 41% | 1,869 |
| Total Votes | 4,559 | |
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.
2019
In 2019, the Arkansas State Legislature was in session from January 14 through April 24.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues.
- Legislators are scored on whether their votes on bills deliver "more economic freedom for all Arkansans."
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to "promoting, protecting, and strengthening traditional family values."
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
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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Noteworthy events
Expulsion following felony charges (2019)
In October 2019, Gates was expelled from the Arkansas House of Representatives following a June 2018 arrest on charges of failure to pay taxes or file a tax return. The house passed the expulsion resolution by a vote of 88-4.[1]
Gates allegedly failed to file a state income tax return between 2012 and 2017. Authorities estimated he owed the state $260,000.
Following the arrest, House Speaker Matthew Shepherd (R) suspended Gates from his committee and leadership positions. Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R), Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin (R), Attorney General Leslie Rutledge (R), and State Rep. Michael John Gray (D) called for Gates' resignation.[12][13]
See also
- Arkansas State Legislature
- Arkansas House of Representatives
- Arkansas House Committees
- Arkansas state legislative districts
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Mickey Gates on Facebook
- Campaign contributions via Follow the Money
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 KATV7, "Rep. Mickey Gates expelled from Arkansas House in historic vote," October 11, 2019
- ↑ mickeygates.com, "About Mickey," accessed March 26, 2014
- ↑ Vote Smart, "Mickey Gates," accessed September 30, 2019
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 State of Arkansas House of Representatives, "Mickey Gates," accessed September 30, 2019
- ↑ Associated Press, "Arkansas lawmaker pleads no contest to not filing taxes," accessed September 30, 2019
- ↑ 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
- ↑ THB11.com, "Arkansas legislator arrested for failing to pay income taxes for several years," June 28, 2018
- ↑ Fox16.com, "Gov. Asa Hutchinson Calls for Resignation of State Rep. Mickey Gates," July 18, 2018
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Bruce Westerman (R) |
Arkansas House District 22 2015-2019 |
Succeeded by Richard McGrew (R) |
