2008 United States Senate election in Arkansas

The 2008 United States Senate election in Arkansas was held on November 4, 2008. Incumbent Democratic U.S. 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. He won this state by a large margin, despite John McCain winning the state by nearly 20 points.

November 4, 2008


Nominee	Mark Pryor	Rebekah Kennedy
Party	Democratic	Green
Popular vote	804,678	207,076
Percentage	79.5%	20.5%

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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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 2021, this is the last U.S. Senate election in Arkansas won by a Democrat.

Candidates

Democratic

Mark Pryor, incumbent U.S. Senator

Green

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

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 a 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.

Polling

Pryor was polled at 90% in a poll without a challenger in March.[6]

Results

2008 United States Senate election in Arkansas[7]
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

References

"A short history of Green Party U.S. Senate races – Green Party Watch". Retrieved Jan 1, 2021.
"Today's THV - KTHV Little Rock News Article". Todaysthv.com. March 10, 2008. Retrieved July 26, 2012.
Huckabee says he won't run against Pryor Archived 2008-03-16 at the Wayback Machine, Nasdaq.com
"Kennedy enters race for Pryor's Senate Seat", Daniel Nassaw, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, April 14, 2007.
"U.S. Senate Statewide Results". Secretary of State of Arkansas. Retrieved 2009-04-09.
"Arkansas Polls". Electoral-vote.com. Retrieved July 26, 2012.
"U.S. Senate Statewide Results". Secretary of State of Arkansas. December 2, 2008. Retrieved December 9, 2008.

External links

Elections from the Arkansas Secretary of State
U.S. Congress candidates for Arkansas at Project Vote Smart
Arkansas, U.S. Senate from CQ Politics
Arkansas U.S. Senate from OurCampaigns.com
Arkansas U.S. Senate race from 2008 Race Tracker
Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets.org
official campaign websites (Archived)
- Rebekah Kennedy, Green Party candidate
- Mark Pryor, Democratic incumbent

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2008 United States Senate election in Arkansas

Candidates

Democratic

Green

Campaign

Polling

Results

See also

References

External links