America the Beautiful: How History Shapes our Electorate Arkansas - The Natural State

By Matt Meduri

Regional politics and the legacy of the Southern Democratic party affect no other state quite like Arkansas. Once the most consistently Democratic state in the country, Arkansas’ political transition is not as sharp and instantaneous as typically assumed.

Early History - A Southern Frontier

Hernando De Soto and the Spaniards were the first to explore Arkansas in 1541. Areas on the Mississippi River, including Arkansas, would be claimed by New France. The state’s first successful European settlement, “Post de Arkansea,” would be founded in 1686 on the Arkansas River, a tributary of the Mississippi, and would become a major hub for fur trappers. Arkansas’ only Revolutionary War battle would be a small raid by the British on the Spanish-controlled and American-aligned Arkansas Post.

The Arkansaw Enabling Act saw the failure of a House-led amendment to ban new slaves in the region, allowing the Arkansas to organize as a slave-holding territory. At the same time, the uncertainty concerning the Missouri Compromise led slaveholders out of Missouri into Arkansas. The political geography began to align as the southeastern farmers strongly supported slavery to run their cotton plantations. Northwest Arkansas - the Ozarks region - did not utilize slavery but backed the practice in support of their state.

Arkansas statehood would be defined by sectionalism, in which the regions of the states had to compromise on a three-fifths rule regarding the population of slaves for House district apportionment. Rules like it, as well as the national Three-Fifths Compromise, would prove to be the barrier to the South’s political power, as the South would never be accurately represented in Congress based on their true populations. Because of this, the South would never realize full power and would easily be out-leveraged by the North, leading to the abolition of slavery.

After the compromise was settled, and Michigan was admitted as a free state, Arkansas was admitted on June 15, 1836.

Civil War & ReconstructionA Democratic Bastion

A mostly agrarian state, Arkansas would succeed its frontier days with those of a vibrant cotton industry in the southeastern corner of the state, and roads and steamboats would bring more prosperity to the region. Southeast Arkansas would set itself up for failure by being so reliant on agriculture, while the Ozarks would lag economically due to the virtually nonexistent practice of slavery.

Arkansas initially voted to remain in the Union, albeit narrowly. However, after President Lincoln’s (R-IL) call for volunteers to squash Southern rebellion after the attack on Fort Sumter, Arkansas seceded from the Union in a near-unanimous vote.

The Ozarks formed anti-war movements but those involved were arrested and charged with treason or forced to join the Confederate Army. Arkansas was highly strategic during the Civil War, due to its entire eastern border’s definition by the Mississippi River, connecting St. Louis and New Orleans. However, after a Union victory in the Battle of Vicksburg handed the North control of the Mississippi, a siege on Little Rock followed shortly after.

Since Arkansas was home to more guerilla warfare during the Civil War than other areas, the large destruction of property and crops, along with the fiscal and human cost of the war, left the economy in shambles. During Reconstruction, strong anti-Unionist allegiance, along with the KKK being the Democratic military arm in the state, led to its administration by the North during Reconstruction. Like other Southern states, Radical Republicans led the government, drafting a constitution that gave blacks full citizenship, suffrage, and due process, and integrated, free public schools. Arkansas subsequently ratified the 14th Amendment, allowing the state readmission to the Union.

Governor Powell Clayton (R)’s - elected in 1868administration focused on protecting freedmen and keeping Confederate whites out of power, mainly by appointing Northern “carpetbaggers” to political positions. The corrupt 1874 governor race handed the office to Augustus Garland (D), who, with many Arkansans, envisioned cultural change and economic ties with the North. Agrarian segregationist views countered the “New South” ideals.

Along with farmer discontent due to outside competition and crop liens, the Democratic vote was consolidated and the era of Jim Crow officially fell on the Natural State.

Arkansas would vote Democratic in every presidential race from 1836 until 1968, with the exception of their 1868 vote for Ulysses Grant (R-OH), their 1864 absence due to secession, and Congress’ rejection of their electoral votes for Grant in 1872.

Heading into the 20th Century, the only Republican counties in Arkansas lined the Mississippi River, with some in the Ozarks. These trends would continue until the 1920s.

20th Century PoliticsHeart of the “Solid South”

The “Solid South” was the voting bloc of Southern states that reliably backed the Democratic party in almost all forms of government from 1876 to 1964. All states flirted with the GOP at least once during that period, except Arkansas. The state’s voting streak is the third-longest in American history, a whopping twenty-three consecutive elections for one party - the Democratic party.

In response to the poor state of farming, Arkansas began diversifying its crop portfolio, introducing rice, fruit orchards, and vineyards, as well as dairy and poultry to the state. The farming crisis aligned many voters with the late 1890s’ Populist party, which typically ran on fusion tickets with Democrats, further solidifying Democratic hold on the state.

Poor infrastructure, the Great Depression, and the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 saw a progressive governor win in 1928, but the problems transcended the state government’s ability and budget. FDR’s (D-NY) New Deal programs greatly appealed to the voters, making him the first Democrat to win the Ozark counties of Searcy and Newton since the Civil War.

This is the twenty-sixth of a series column that will look at the history of all 50 States, all 5 territories, and the Capital and the influence history has on our current political environments. The aim of this column is to capture that our country is not just red or blue, but rather many shades in between. Each Lower 48 state’s current political landscape can be traced back to its early settlement and geography and its particular involvement in the Civil War, the Industrial Revolution, and the Civil Rights Era.

World War II prompted the state to turn an industrial tide, as farmers, poor whites, and blacks flocked to industrial centers. Arkansas is also home to natural resources such as oil, natural gas, bromine, and bauxite, the latter of which is used to make aluminum. Arkansas supplied about 90% of all domestic bauxite throughout the 20th Century.

Arkansas found itself in the heart of Civil Rights, especially as Little Rock High School became a battleground of the era following the Supreme Court’s Brown Vs. Board of Education decision. The Arkansas National Guard denied black students entry to the school, which was followed by President Eisenhower’s (R-KS) order of federal troops to escort the students into the school.

Although Eisenhower didn’t win Arkansas in either of his elections, he did deliver the best result for the GOP in the state since Reconstruction, garnering 40% both times.

Segregationist Alabama Governor George Wallace (D) ran an Independent campaign in 1968, resulting in Arkansas being one of the five Southern states to vote for him, the last time a thirdparty candidate has won a state in a presidential race.

1967 saw a landmark change for Arkansas: the election of Governor Winthrop Rockefeller (R), the first Republican to win the office since 1872. Of the wealthy oil family, Rockefeller instituted full school integration, modernized the state’s prison system, and helped modernize the state. Governor David Pryor (D) succeeded him in 1970 and continued his vision.

Richard Nixon (R-CA) would sweep all of Arkansas’ counties in 1972 and the state would back Jimmy Carter (D-GA) by a landslide. Ronald Reagan (R-CA) would win a thin victory in 1980, while Bill Clinton (D-AR), arguably Arkansas’ most famous politicians - and its only native son to become President - won the state twice in the 1990s, the last Democrat to do so.

Current Political Leanings - A Rapid Change Since 2000

Although Arkansas’ climb to electoral relevance was slow and reflected political sectionalism and the destitute economic outlook for most of the 20th Century. Today, Arkansas is home to agricultural, aerospace, metals, and distribution industries. Walmart was famously founded in Rogers, Arkansas, by James and Sam Walton in 1962.

Elections since 2000 have seen the state multiply its margins for the GOP exponentially. From a 5-point win for George Bush (R-TX) in 2000, to a 20-point win for John McCain (R-AZ) in 2008, Democrats regularly have trouble eclipsing anything north of 35% in any election.

However, Democrats only recently lost all elected office in the state. Democrats lost control of both chambers of the state legislature in 2012 and its one House seat in 2014. Mark Pryor (D), son of aforementioned Governor David Pryor, was unopposed for his Senate seat in 2008. He was soundly defeated in 2014 by Tom Cotton (R). Cotton, in his own right, ran unopposed in 2020. Democrats held both Senate seats from 1879 until 1997. In 2015, the GOP won both for the first time since 1876 and has held them since.

Democrats dominated the governor’s mansion from 1874 until 1967, and then again until 1981. The GOP has held the office since 2015.

Unlike what many assume, Arkansas’ transition to the Republican party took the latter half of the 20th Century to materialize, culminating in the mid-2010s, not instantly in 1964. Unless Little Rock can increase its political clout, the state’s rural, industrial, and agricultural profile will likely be too much to topple for any force from the Democratic side.