Arkansas Supreme Court elections, 2026
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The terms of two Arkansas Supreme Court justices will expire on December 31, 2026. The two seats were up for a nonpartisan election on March 3, 2026.
Two incumbent justices, Nicholas Bronni and Cody Hiland ran for each other's seats in the March 3 election, something that hasn't happened in at least 25 years, according to Bolts Magazine's Daniel Nichanian. Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) appointed both Justices. State law barred appointed justices from running for re-election but allowed them to run for a different seat. Consequently, both justices ran for each other's seat.[1]
Bronni faced one other candidate, John Adams, in the race to succeed Hiland. Hiland ran unopposed to succeed Bronni.
According to that Bolts analysis, this was the first time two justices ran for another justice's seat since 2000. In that time, there were five justices who were eligible to run for another justice's seat, but none did so.[1]
Arkansas and Louisiana were the only states to prohibit appointed justices from succeeding themselves. Amendment 29, Section 2 of the Arkansas Constitution, prohibited officials appointed to fill a vacancy from succeeding themselves, and Article V, Section 22(B) of the Louisiana Constitution prohibited appointed justices from running in a special election.
The Arkansas Advocate's Ainsley Platt wrote, "The outcome of the race won’t change the ideological tilt of the court, where justices linked to Republicans hold a 5-2 majority...But whoever wins will sit on a court that’s expected to take up several high-profile cases winding their way through the court system, including lawsuits over abortion, school vouchers and executions."[2]
Though the seat was nonpartisan, the Arkansas Republican Party endorsed Bronni, and Adams was a former Democratic candidate for Congress. Bronni described himself as a conservative and an originalist, while Adams said he was a nonpartisan justice who would not make decisions based on party.[2][3] Hiland was affiliated with the Republican Party.[4]
Arkansas was one of 32 states holding an election for state supreme court in 2026. To read more about state supreme court elections in 2026, click here.
Candidates and results
Nicholas Bronni's seat
General election
The general election was canceled. Cody Hiland (Nonpartisan) won without appearing on the ballot.
Cody Hiland's seat
General election
General election for Arkansas Supreme Court Position 3
Incumbent Nicholas Bronni defeated John Adams in the general election for Arkansas Supreme Court Position 3 on March 3, 2026.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Nicholas Bronni (Nonpartisan) | 54.8 | 217,178 |
 | John Adams (Nonpartisan) | 45.2 | 179,449 | |
| Total votes: 396,627 | |||
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Voting information
- See also: Voting in Arkansas
About the Arkansas Supreme Court
- See also: Arkansas Supreme Court
There are seven justices on the Arkansas Supreme Court, each elected to eight-year terms. They compete in nonpartisan primaries (occurring at the same time as the primary elections for other state officials) in which the candidate who receives more than 50 percent of the vote wins the seat. If no candidate garners a majority of the vote, the top two candidates compete in a runoff during the general election.[5]
Political composition
This is the political composition of the court heading into the 2026 election.
| ■ Karen R. Baker - Chief Justice | Elected in 2010[6] | |
| ■ Courtney Rae Hudson - Position 2 | Elected in 2010 | |
| ■ Cody Hiland - Position 3 | Appointed by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) in 2024 | |
| ■ Barbara Webb - Position 4 | Elected in 2020 | |
| ■ Shawn Womack - Position 5 | Elected in 2016 | |
| ■ Nicholas Bronni - Position 6 | Appointed by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) in 2024 | |
| ■ Rhonda Wood - Position 7 | Elected in 2014 |
Selection
The seven justices on the Arkansas Supreme Court are selected through nonpartisan elections. They compete in nonpartisan general elections—occurring at the same time as the primary elections for other state officials—in which the candidate who receives more than 50 percent of the vote wins the seat. If no candidate garners a majority of the vote, the top two candidates compete in a runoff during the November general election.[7]
The winners are elected to eight-year terms.[7]
Qualifications
To serve on this court, a justice must be:[8]
- licensed to practice law in Arkansas for at least eight years;
- a qualified elector within the geographic area from which chosen.
Chief justice
The court's chief justice is selected by voters at large and serves in that capacity for a full eight-year term.[9]
Vacancies
In the event of a midterm vacancy, an interim judge is selected by the governor to fill the empty seat. If the open seat would have been filled at the next general election if the vacancy did not occur, the appointed justice will serve the remainder of the unexpired term. If the open seat would not have been regularly filled at the next general election, the appointee will serve until the next general election if the vacancy occurred more than four months prior to the election. If the vacancy occurs less than four months prior to the next general election, then the justice will serve until the second succeeding general election. A justice appointed by the governor to serve an unexpired term is ineligible to run for re-election to their seat.[7]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Bolts Magazine, "Conservatives Play Musical Chairs to “Cement” Majority on Arkansas High Court," February 11, 2026
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Arkansas Advocate, "Sanders-appointed justice and lawyer in Arkansas library case go head-to-head in Supreme Court race," February 18, 2026
- ↑ KTHV, "These are the key races in the Arkansas Primary elections," February 13, 2026
- ↑ Talk Business and Politics, "Justice Cody Hiland to run for Arkansas Supreme Court, Position 6," May 19, 2025
- ↑ American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Arkansas," archived October 2, 2014
- ↑ Note: Baker was elected to the Chief Justice position in November 2024. Prior to this election, she served as an Associate Justice.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Arkansas Judiciary, "Arkansas Supreme Court," accessed March 27, 2023 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "ssc" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Arkansas Bureau of Legislative Services, "Ark. Const. Amendment 80, §16," accessed April 15, 2025
- ↑ Justia, "Arkansas Constitution - Amendment 80 - Qualifications of justices and judges.," accessed March 27, 2023
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
State resources:
Courts in Arkansas • Arkansas judicial elections • Judicial selection in Arkansas
