Arkansas is a state in the South Central region of the United States. Since its admission to the Union in June 1836, it has participated in 46 United States presidential elections. In the realigning 1860 election, Arkansas was one of the ten slave states that did not provide ballot access to the Republican nominee, Abraham Lincoln. Subsequently, John C. Breckinridge won the state by a comfortable margin, becoming the first third party candidate to win Arkansas. Soon after this election, Arkansas seceded from the Union and joined the Confederacy. Following the secession, Arkansas did not participate in the 1864 presidential election. After the Civil War, Arkansas was readmitted to the Union in 1868. In the 1872 election, all six of Arkansas's electoral votes were invalidated due to various irregularities including allegations of electoral fraud.
Until 1964, Arkansas was considered a stronghold state for the Democratic Party, which usually carried the state by huge margins; however, recent political realignment has led to the dominance of the Republican Party. In the 1968 presidential election, American Independent Party candidate George Wallace became the second third-party presidential candidate to win Arkansas. Arkansas was the only state in the 1992 presidential election to be won by a majority of the popular vote; Bill Clinton, its governor at the time, won Arkansas with 53.21 percent of the vote. Since Clinton won re-election in 1996, however, the state has voted consistently for the Republican Party.
Presidential elections Key for parties
Note – A double dagger () indicates the national winner.
1836 to 1856
+ Year Winner Runner-upCandidate Votes%Candidate Votes% 1836 2,380 1,3343 1840 6,679 5,1603 1844 9,546 5,604 3 1848 9,301 7,587 3 1852 12,173 7,404 4 1856 21,910 10,732 4
1860 and 1864 The election of 1860 was a complex realigning election in which the breakdown of the previous two-party alignment culminated in four parties each competing for influence in different parts of the country. The result of the election, with the victory of an ardent opponent of slavery, spurred the secession of eleven states and brought about the American Civil War. + Year Winner Runner-upRunner-upRunner-upCandidate Votes(%)Candidate Votes(%)Candidate Votes(%)Candidate Votes(%) 1860 28,732() 20,063() 5,357() 4 1864
1868 to present + Year Winner Runner-upOther candidateCandidate Votes%Candidate Votes%Candidate Votes% 22,112 19,078 5 41,373 37,927 58,086 38,649 211 6 60,489 41,661 4,079 6 72,734 51,198 1,847 7 86,062 59,752 10,630 7 87,834 47,072 11,831 8 110,103 37,512 889 8 81,242 44,800 972 8 64,434 46,760 2,318 9 87,020 56,684 5,842 9 68,814 25,585 21,644 9 112,211 48,879 6,999 9 107,409 71,117 5,111 9 84,790 40,583 13,167 9 119,196 77,784 429 9 186,829 Herbert Hoover 27,466 1,166 9 146,765 32,039 446 9 157,213 42,121 793 9 148,965 63,551 438 9 149,659 50,959 40,068 9 226,300 177,155 886 8 213,277 186,287 7,008 8 215,049 184,508 28,952 8 314,197 243,264 2,965 6 240,982 190,759 188,228 6 448,541 198,892 2,887 6 499,614 268,753 647 6 403,164 398,041 22,468 6 534,774 338,646 2,221 6 466,578 349,237 5,146 6 505,823 337,324 99,132 6 475,171 325,416 69,884 6 472,940 422,768 13,421 6 572,898 469,953 6,171 6 638,017 422,310 12,882 6 647,744 394,409 16,276 6 684,872 380,494 29,829 6 760,647 423,932 13,133 6 759,241 396,905 13,255 6
Graph
See also Elections in Arkansas List of United States presidential election results by state
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