2008 United States Senate election in Arkansas

← 2002

November 4, 2008

2014 →


Nominee	Mark Pryor	Rebekah Kennedy
Party	Democratic	Green
Popular vote	804,678	207,076
Percentage	79.53%	20.47%

County results
Pryor: 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%

U.S. senator before election

Mark Pryor
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Mark Pryor
Democratic

Federal government

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The 2008 United States Senate election in Arkansas was held on November 4, 2008. Incumbent Senator Mark Pryor ran for a second term. No Republican filed to challenge him, and his only opponent was Green Party candidate Rebekah Kennedy. Pryor won re-election with almost 80% of the vote, despite Republican John McCain winning the state by nearly 20 points in the concurrent presidential election.

Kennedy received the highest ever vote share of any Green Party candidate running for U.S. Senate,^[1] and the highest for a third party Senate candidate in Arkansas until her record was surpassed by Libertarian candidate Ricky Dale Harrington Jr. in 2020.

As of 2023^[update], this was the last time Democrats won a statewide federal election in Arkansas.

Candidates

Democratic

Mark Pryor, incumbent U.S. Senator

Green

Rebekah Kennedy, attorney and nominee for Attorney General in 2006 and 2010

General election

Campaign

On March 10, the state Republican Party announced it has no plans to field a candidate against Pryor. The only Republican to express interest in the race, health care executive Tom Formicola, decided not to run the weekend before filing began. Formicola lost the GOP primaries for the Senate in 2004 and the United States House of Representatives in 2006. As a result, Pryor was the only Senator in 2008 to face no major-party opposition in a reelection bid.^[2]

There had been speculation that former Governor Mike Huckabee would run against Pryor if his presidential bid were unsuccessful, but on March 8, Huckabee said he would not contest the race.^[3]

Pryor's sole challenger was Green Party nominee Rebekah Kennedy, who entered the race in April 2007.^[4] Kennedy received 206,504 votes (20.54%).^[5] This is the highest percentage of the vote for any Green Party candidate running for U.S. Senate ever, and her 206,504 votes is the second most total votes received by a Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate after Medea Susan Benjamin's 326,828 votes in the 2000 California Senate race.^[1] Kennedy's campaign, in addition to being record breaking for the Green Party, was also the strongest showing of any independent or third-party candidate running for the U.S. Senate in 2008.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report^[6]	Safe D	October 23, 2008
CQ Politics^[7]	Safe D	October 31, 2008
Rothenberg Political Report^[8]	Safe D	November 2, 2008
Real Clear Politics^[9]	Safe D	November 4, 2008

Polling

Pryor was polled at 90% in a poll without a challenger in March.^[10]

Results

2008 United States Senate election in Arkansas^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mark Pryor (incumbent)	804,678	79.53%
	Green	Rebekah Kennedy	207,076	20.47%
Total votes			1,011,754	100.00%
	Democratic hold

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Madison (Largest city: Huntsville)
Washington (Largest city: Fayetteville)
Cleburne (Largest city: Heber Springs)
White (Largest city: Searcy)
Faulkner (Largest city: Conway)
Lonoke (Largest city: Cabot)
Polk (Largest city: Mena)
Saline (Largest city: Benton)
Scott (Largest city: Waldron)
Montgomery (Largest city: Mount Ida)
Sebastian (Largest city: Fort Smith)
Pope (Largest city: Russellville)
Crawford (Largest city: Van Buren)
Searcy (Largest city: Marshall)
Baxter (Largest city: Mountain Home)
Marion (Largest city: Bull Shoals)
Boone (Largest city: Harrison)
Carroll (Largest city: Berryville)
Newton (Largest city: Jasper)
Benton (Largest city: Rogers)

References

External links

Elections in Arkansas

Elections in Arkansas
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