2008 United States Senate election in Arkansas

none March 2026 September 2023 2008 United States Senate election in Arkansas Arkansas 1924 presidential no 2002 United States Senate election in Arkansas 2002 2014 United States Senate election in Arkansas 2014 November 4, 2008 File:Mark Pryor, head and shoulders photo portrait with flag, 2006.jpg 150x150px Mark Pryor Democratic Party (United States) 804,678 79.53% 3x4.svg Rebekah Kennedy Green Party (United States) 207,076 20.47% 2008 United States Senate election in Arkansas results map by county.svg 210px County resultsPryor: #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% #3933e5 80–90% #0d056c >90% U.S. Senator Mark Pryor Democratic Party (Arkansas) Mark Pryor Democratic Party (Arkansas) The 2008 United States Senate election in Arkansas was held on November 4, 2008. Incumbent Senator Mark Pryor ran for a second term. No Republican filed to challenge him, and his only opponent was Green Party candidate Rebekah Kennedy. Pryor won re-election with almost 80% of the vote, also winning every county. Kennedy received the highest ever vote share of any Green Party candidate running for U.S. Senate,http://www.greenpartywatch.org/2008/10/09/a-short-history-of-green-party-us-senate-races/ A short history of Green Party U.S. Senate races – Green Party Watch Jan 1, 2021 July 29, 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20180729050044/http://www.greenpartywatch.org/2008/10/09/a-short-history-of-green-party-us-senate-races/ usurped and the highest for a third party Senate candidate in Arkansas until her record was surpassed by Libertarian candidate Ricky Dale Harrington Jr. in 2020. As of 2026, this was the last time Democrats won a U.S. Senate election in Arkansas, and the last Arkansas U.S. Senate race where any candidate won every county. With Republican John McCain winning the state in the concurrent presidential race, this is also the last time that Arkansas simultaneously voted for presidential and U.S. Senate candidates of different parties. To date, Pryor has the highest raw vote total ever in the history of statewide elections in Arkansas. This was Pryor’s last successful campaign for elected office; he was defeated for re-election to the Senate in 2014.Glueck Katie 2014-11-04 Cotton defeats Pryor in Arkansas https://www.politico.com/story/2014/11/arkansas-senate-results-elections-2014-tom-cotton-mark-pryor-112515 2025-05-13 POLITICO en Candidates Democratic Mark Pryor, incumbent U.S. senator Green Rebekah Kennedy, attorney and nominee for attorney general in 2006 and 2010 General election Campaign On March 10, the state Republican Party announced it had no plans to field a candidate against Pryor. The only Republican to express interest in the race, health care executive Tom Formicola, decided not to run on the weekend before filing began. Formicola lost the GOP primaries for the Senate in 2004 and the United States House of Representatives in 2006. As a result, Pryor was the only senator in 2008 to face no major-party opposition in a reelection bid.http://www.todaysthv.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=62041 Today's THV - KTHV Little Rock News Article Todaysthv.com March 10, 2008 July 26, 2012 There had been speculation that former Governor Mike Huckabee would run against Pryor if his presidential bid were unsuccessful, but on March 8, Huckabee said he would not contest the race.Huckabee says he won't run against Pryor https://web.archive.org/web/20080316072104/http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20080308%5CACQRTT200803082111RTTRADERUSEQUITY_0046.htm&&mypage=newsheadlines&title=Huckabee%20Says%20He%20Won%27t%20Run%20Against%20Pryor 2008-03-16 , Nasdaq.com Pryor's sole challenger was Green Party nominee Rebekah Kennedy, who entered the race in April 2007."Kennedy enters race for Pryor's Senate Seat", Daniel Nassaw, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, April 14, 2007. Kennedy received 206,504 votes (20.54%).http://www.arelections.org/index.php?ac:show:contest_statewide=1&elecid=181&contestid=9 https://web.archive.org/web/20081001210932/http://www.arelections.org/index.php?ac:show:contest_statewide=1&elecid=181&contestid=9 usurped October 1, 2008 U.S. Senate Statewide Results Secretary of State of Arkansas 2009-04-09 This is the highest percentage of the vote for any Green Party candidate running for U.S. Senate ever, and her 206,504 votes is the second most total votes received by a Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate after Medea Susan Benjamin's 326,828 votes in the 2000 California Senate race. Kennedy's campaign, in addition to being record breaking for the Green Party, was also the strongest showing of any independent or third-party candidate running for the U.S. Senate in 2008. Predictions SourceRankingAs of The Cook Political Report2008 Senate Race ratings for October 23, 2008 https://cookpolitical.com/ratings/senate-race-ratings/139080 The Cook Political Report April 1, 2021 June 25, 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210625160336/https://cookpolitical.com/ratings/senate-race-ratings/139080 dead Safe DOctober 23, 2008 CQ PoliticsRace Ratings Chart: Senate https://web.archive.org/web/20101028234525/http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=ratings-senate October 28, 2010 CQ Politics Safe DOctober 31, 2008 Rothenberg Political Report2008 Senate ratings https://www.insideelections.com/ratings/senate/2008-senate-ratings Inside Elections April 1, 2021 Safe DNovember 2, 2008 Real Clear Politics2008 RCP Averages & Senate Results https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/senate/election_2008_senate_races.html Real Clear Politics August 31, 2021 Safe DNovember 4, 2008 Polling Pryor was polled at 90% in a poll without a challenger in March.http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2008/Senate/Graphs/arkansas.html Arkansas Polls Electoral-vote.com July 26, 2012 Results thumb|240px|County flips: Democratic #92c5de Hold #0671b0 Flip 2008 United States Senate election in Arkansashttp://www.arelections.org/index.php?ac:show:contest_statewide=1&elecid=181&contestid=9 https://web.archive.org/web/20081001210932/http://www.arelections.org/index.php?ac:show:contest_statewide=1&elecid=181&contestid=9 usurped October 1, 2008 U.S. Senate Statewide Results Secretary of State of Arkansas December 2, 2008 December 9, 2008 Democratic Party (Arkansas) Mark Pryor (incumbent) 804,678 79.53% Green Party (Arkansas) Rebekah Kennedy 207,076 20.47% 1,011,754 100.00% Democratic Party (Arkansas) Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Madison (largest city: Huntsville) Washington (largest city: Fayetteville) Cleburne (largest city: Heber Springs) White (largest city: Searcy) Faulkner (largest city: Conway) Lonoke (largest city: Cabot) Polk (largest city: Mena) Saline (largest city: Benton) Scott (largest city: Waldron) Montgomery (largest city: Mount Ida) Sebastian (largest city: Fort Smith) Pope (largest city: Russellville) Crawford (largest city: Van Buren) Searcy (largest city: Marshall) Baxter (largest city: Mountain Home) Marion (largest city: Bull Shoals) Boone (largest city: Harrison) Carroll (largest city: Berryville) Newton (largest city: Jasper) Benton (largest city: Rogers) See also 2008 United States Senate elections 2002 United States Senate election in Arkansas References External links Elections from the Arkansas Secretary of State U.S. Congress candidates for Arkansas https://web.archive.org/web/20081024043647/http://www.votesmart.org/election_congress_state.php?state_id=AR&go33.x=11&go33.y=9 October 24, 2008 at Project Vote Smart Arkansas, U.S. Senate from CQ Politics Arkansas U.S. Senate from OurCampaigns.com Arkansas U.S. Senate race from 2008 Race Tracker Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets Official campaign websites (archived) Rebekah Kennedy, Green Party candidate Mark Pryor, Democratic incumbent 2008 Arkansas United States Senate