Arkansas’s 2024 preferential primary and judicial election did not offer many surprising outcomes when the ballots were finally tallied. Generally speaking, incumbents and favorites won, even if some of the races were closer than expected.
But one area in which voters did drive some unexpected outcomes — good and bad — was in the non-partisan judicial races, both statewide and locally.
Before we recap those results, recall that judicial races in Arkansas are similar to races for the state Legislature or constitutional office, in that a candidate must get more than 50% of the votes cast to win. Otherwise, the race goes to a runoff to be held at the same time as the November general election.
Arkansas Supreme Court, Chief Justice
This was one of the judicial contests we offered an opinion on before the election. Three current Supreme Court Justices — Rhonda Wood, Karen Baker, and Barbara Webb — were joined by Little Rock lawyer Jay Martin in this four-way statewide race.
While Martin stood no realistic chance, Webb was seen by many as a likely favorite based on her fundraising advantage and having former Republican Party chairman (and current gubernatorial appointee) Doyle Webb as her spouse.
The race between the three sitting justices was particularly tight, but when the smoke cleared, Baker had 86,239 votes (27.1%) and Wood had 83,438 (26.3%). Webb fell a little over a thousand votes short with 82,065 (25.8%).
Baker and Wood will now advance to a runoff in November, and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders will appoint someone to replace whichever candidate wins the runoff. (The replacement will serve until January 2027.)
Arkansas Supreme Court, Position 2
Justice Courtney Hudson faced off against Circuit Judge Carlton D. Jones of Texarkana in this race for the seat currently held by Sanders appointee Cody Hiland. Hudson outraised any of the candidates for either Supreme Court seat and was generally seen as the favorite in this race, though support for Jones — based on a desire to keep Sanders from getting to fill a second seat on the high court — seemed to grow as the election drew near.
Ultimately, however, Hudson won with a little over 60% of the vote. When she moves from her current Position 3 seat to Position 2 in January, Sanders will appoint a replacement for Hudson’s vacated position. That appointee will serve until January 2027.
Court of Appeals, District 6, Position 1
It is not terribly shocking that this race went to a runoff. Opinions on the three women running for the seat seemed pretty evenly split, at least among lawyers we spoke to. That said, it is somewhat surprising that attorney Molly McNulty outpaced Circuit Judge Casey Tucker for the most votes on election night.
McNulty (36.5%) and Tucker (33.7%) edged past attorney Pam Hathaway and will square off in November’s runoff. Should Tucker win in November, Sanders would appoint someone to replace Tucker on the Pulaski County Circuit Court bench in January, and that person would serve until January 2027.
Circuit Judge, District 6, Division 17, Subdistrict 6.2
Attorneys Brent Eubanks, Brooke-Augusta Ware, and Robert Cortinez faced off in Pulaski and Perry Counties to replace Circuit Judge Mackie Pierce, who reached mandatory retirement age for circuit judges in Arkansas. (Pierce ran for a district court seat, discussed below.)
This race recently triggered questions from the Ware camp about whether the Arkansas Times endorsed Robert Cortinez. (We did not.) At the end of the day, though, Ware finished behind both Cortinez (41.3%) and Eubanks (31%), as the two men advanced to November’s runoff.
State District Judge, District 2, Division 1
This Northwest Arkansas seat covers district courts in Springdale and Elm Springs, though it is voted on county-wide in Washington County. The race featured attorney Mark N. Scalise against chief deputy prosecuting attorney Taylor Samples.
Among this writer’s Twitter friends, at least, the 41-year-old Samples appeared to be the preferred candidate heading into the election. Last night’s results confirmed as much, with Samples winning handily with 53.6% of the 24,656 votes cast.
State District Judge, District 9, Divisions 1 & 2
Faulkner County district court races showed the power of judicial incumbency pretty clearly last night. In Division 1, incumbent District Judge Chris Carnahan – who drew public ire with his draconian 10-day jail sentence for a protesting UCA student – easily defeated attorney Evan David Hogue, the son of Supreme Court Justice Karen Baker, 58% to 42%.
In the Division 2 race, on the other hand, there was no incumbent, and four candidates jumped into the contest. Attorneys Lorie Mason Jordan (29.4%) and David Hogue (26.7%) advanced to a runoff over Landon Sanders and Phil Murphy.
State District Judge, District 23, Division 2
One of the night’s biggest down-ballot surprises was District Court Judge Mark Derrick losing to Searcy attorney Justin Mercer. Though it was close, Mercer squeaked out the victory by a little less than 150 votes, winning 50.7% to 49.3%.
This outcome may have been influenced to some degree by a lawsuit against Derrick, alleging that he was charging unconstitutionally high fines to criminal defendants and throwing them in jail if they could not pay. (The Arkansas Supreme Court ultimately held that Derrick was immune from such a lawsuit because he was acting within his official capacity.)
State District Judge, District 31, Little Rock 1
Circuit Judge Mackie Pierce retired from his current seat, but entered into the race for district judge, running against deputy prosecuting attorney Jill Kamps.In a bit of a stunner, given that she was running against a sitting judge, Kamps ended Pierce’s judicial tenure 58.7% to 41.3%. (In this writer’s opinion, this is very good news.)
State District Judge, District 31, Pulaski
Circuit Judge Morgan “Chip” Welch also aged out of being able to run for re-election as a circuit judge, and he also opted to run for Pulaski County District Court. While he (like Pierce and Herb Wright) received some pushback for the move, Welch was nevertheless able to defeat challenger Beth Burgess with 58.5% of the vote.
State District Judge, District 31, Little Rock 2
Another circuit judge who chose to run for district court, Circuit Judge Herbert Wright was the only one of the three in Pulaski County who did not make the decision based on being too old to run for re-election. Wright defeated attorney Robert E. Tellez 52% to 48%.
The rest
There were, of course, other judicial races on ballots across the state, especially in district courts. Information on those and other races, including legislative primaries, can be found at the secretary of state’s website.