Arkansas held its general election on November 2, 2010, deciding 135 legislative seats and 7 statewide offices led by the governorship. No chamber changed party control.
Highlights
- Democrats kept both chambers, but their majorities shrank sharply. Republicans added 17 House seats, cutting the Democratic edge to 55-45, and moved the Senate from 27-8 to 20-15 by winning seven open Democratic seats.
- Mike Beebe (D) won a second term by about 31 points over Jim Keet (R), who hurt his momentum with questions about his past tax payments. Republicans took three offices below him: Mark Darr (R), a Springdale restaurant owner, beat state Sen. Shane Broadway (D) for lieutenant governor by about 2 points; state Rep. Mark Martin (R) beat Pulaski County Clerk Pat O'Brien (D) for secretary of state by about 3 points; and John Thurston (R) won the land commissioner's office. Attorney General Dustin McDaniel (D) won re-election.
- Martin's win gave Republicans one of the three seats on the Board of Apportionment, which draws legislative districts. Beebe and McDaniel held the other two, and because the 2011 maps needed only two votes to pass, the two Democrats set the new boundaries.
- All but one of the 26 legislative seats that changed party went Republican, and all 6 House incumbents who lost were Democrats. The closest:
- Voters approved all 3 constitutional amendments: Amendment 1, a right to hunt, fish, trap and harvest wildlife; Amendment 2, which rewrote interest-rate limits and allowed government bonds for energy efficiency projects; and Amendment 3, which lowered the threshold for state bonds to attract major industries.
Legislature
- House (100 seats): 72 D, 28 R before the election, 55 D, 44 R, 1 other or vacant after; control stayed with Democrats.
- Senate (35 seats): 27 D, 8 R before the election, 20 D, 15 R after; control stayed with Democrats.
Statewide races
Legislative races
Ballot measures
| Measure | Description | Result |
|---|
| Amendment 1 | Provide for a state constitutional right to hunt, fish, trap, and harvest wildlife | Passed (83% yes) |
| Amendment 3 | Lower the threshold for issuing state bonds to attract major new industries to Arkansas | Passed (62% yes) |
| Proposed Amendment 2 | | Passed (64% yes) |