2022 Arkansas gubernatorial election


The 2022 Arkansas gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the next governor of Arkansas. Incumbent Republican governor Asa Hutchinson was term-limited and could not seek a third term. Republican Sarah Huckabee Sanders, daughter of former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, defeated Democrat Chris Jones to become the first woman ever elected to the office, and was sworn in on January 10, 2023.
Primary elections in Arkansas were held on May 24. Runoff elections for instances where no candidate receives over 50% of the vote were scheduled for June 21. Former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders won the Republican nomination, while Chris Jones won the Democratic nomination.
Leading up to the Republican primary, Sanders received many endorsements from key Republican figures, including Donald Trump, Mike Pence, incumbent Asa Hutchinson, Arkansas' entire U.S. Congressional delegation, and the majority of Republicans in both state legislative chambers. She faced little substantive opposition in the primary, as she won every county in the state with at least 70% of the vote.
As Arkansas is a staunchly Republican state, winning the party's nomination virtually guaranteed a victory for Sanders in the general election, in which she defeated Jones by 28 points. Jones became the first Democrat to win Washington County since 2010, and Sanders became the first Republican to win majority-Black Crittenden County since her father in 1998, winning the county by one vote. This was the only 2022 election where Washington County voted against the Republican nominee. This is the first time ever that the Republican Party won three straight gubernatorial elections in the state's history.
Sanders became the first female governor of Arkansas. With the election of Leslie Rutledge as lieutenant governor, Arkansas, along with Massachusetts, became the first two U.S. states to elect both a female governor and female lieutenant governor to serve at the same time.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

Withdrew

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

Declined

Libertarian convention

Candidates

Nominee

General election

Polling

Aggregate polls

Source of poll
aggregation		Dates
administered		Dates
updated		Sarah
Huckabee
Sanders 		Chris
Jones 		Undecided
Margin
FiveThirtyEightAugust 31 – October 31, 2022November 3, 202254.4%36.1%9.5%Sanders +18.3

Graphical summary

Poll sourceDate
administered		Sample
size		Margin
of error		Sarah
Huckabee
Sanders 		Chris
Jones 		Ricky
Harrington 		Undecided
University of ArkansasOctober 13–31, 2022557 –53%34%4%9%
Hendrix CollegeOctober 17–18, 2022835 ± 3.8%51%41%3%5%
Remington Research Group (R)September 14–15, 20221,418 ± 3.4%59%34%3%4%
Hendrix CollegeSeptember 12, 2022835 ± 3.8%51%40%2%7%
Echelon InsightsAugust 31 – September 7, 2022382 ± 7.7%62%32%–6%
Remington Research Group (R)February 26–27, 2022827 ± 3.4%58%28%3%10%

Sarah Huckabee Sanders vs. generic Democrat

Poll sourceDate
administered		Sample
size		Margin
of error		Sarah
Huckabee
Sanders 		Generic
Democrat		OtherUndecided
Hendrix CollegeFebruary 7–8, 2022961 ± 4.4%44%34%8%15%

Generic Republican vs. generic Democrat

Poll sourceDate
administered		Sample
size		Margin
of error		Generic
Republican		Generic
Democrat		Undecided
University of ArkansasOctober 12–24, 2021800 ± 3.5%46%21%34%
University of ArkansasOctober 12–24, 2021555 ± 4.2%50%23%27%

Results

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

By congressional district

Huckabee Sanders won all four congressional districts.
DistrictHuckabee SandersJonesRepresentative
70%28%Rick Crawford
56%43%French Hill
60%38%Steve Womack
68%30%Bruce Westerman