Arkansas chief justice election won’t change conservative tilt of court, but will make history
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The winner of the battle for the chief justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court will not change its conservative majority and has not received the heavy spending from Republican groups that have targeted campaigns in the past. But the outcome will still make history.
Judges Karen Baker and Rhonda Wood are looking to replace retiring Chief Justice Dan Kemp in this year’s nonpartisan runoff. Baker and Wood were the two top finishers in a four-way race for the court in March, but neither achieved the majority needed to win the race outright.
The Arkansas court is technically nonpartisan, but the Republican-backed justices have a 4-3 majority on the court. That majority will expand to 5-2 regardless of who wins the race GOP Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders Two vacancies at the court will be filled next year.
Baker of Wood will become the state’s first female chief justice. Betty Dickey was appointed chief justice of the court in 2003.
Wood, who was first elected to the court in 2014 and then re-elected in 2022, has the support of Republicans including Sanders and U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton. The Arkansas Republican Party’s state committee has also endorsed her candidacy.
However, Wood said she believes her experience in court shows she is an independent voice and does not rule in accordance with either party.
“I think I’ve made decisions that are consistent with the law, but it’s not necessarily that one side or the other would agree with it,” Wood told the Associated Press.
Baker, who has been on the court since 2011, did not respond to multiple messages from the AP requesting an interview. Baker won reelection in 2022, defeating a former Republican lawmaker who touted himself as a constitutional conservative.
In interviews, Baker has said she has proven herself to be impartial.
“I think my opponent has shown that this is not the case,” she told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, when asked about Sanders’ political action committee backing Wood’s campaign.
The Arkansas lawsuits have been the target in recent years of conservative groups who have spent heavily trying to push the court further to the right. However, these groups have not identified Arkansas as a target this year, instead focusing on higher profile races in battleground states like Ohio and Michigan.
The two candidates recently parted ways after a lawsuit over a abortion rights measure that would have rolled back a state ban that took effect when Roe v. Wade was overturned.
Wood wrote the court’s opinion by a four-to-three vote, affirming the state’s decision to deny petitions filed in favor of the proposal. The court ruled that the measure’s sponsors failed to comply with paperwork requirements for paid signature gatherers.
In a blistering dissent, Baker asked, “Why are respondent and the majority determined to keep this particular vote hidden from the people?”
When asked what the opinions clarified about the justices’ difference, Wood said, “I think it’s clear that it appears more judicially restrained than an opinion that tries to sway public emotion.”
Baker has touted her experience on the bench and previously mentioned improving attorney licensure as an area she would like to focus on if elected.
Wood has said she would like to push for changes to the court system to make it more accessible, including text notifications of hearings and alternative options for attending court hearings, including night courts and virtual courts.
“There are a lot of finite things I want to do specifically, but the theme is to make it much more transparent and citizen-friendly,” Wood said.
Whoever loses the race will still remain on the field, but the election will give Sanders a second appointment for next year. Judge Courtney Hudson was elected in March to a position within her court that is different from her own, creating a vacancy. Hudson replaces Cody Hiland, who Sanders appointed to the court last year.