Arkansas voters could make history with 2 Supreme Court races, including crowded chief justice race
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas voters could make history in two races for the state Supreme Court in Tuesday’s elections, with candidates vying to become the first Black judge elected and the first woman elected to lead the court.
The races could also boost Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ influence, paving the way for her to appoint new justices after conservative groups have made significant efforts in recent years to push the court further to the right.
Three of the court’s seven justices — Karen Baker, Barbara Webb and Rhonda Wood — are running against former state lawmaker Jay Martin for the nomination of chief justice. If none of the candidates receives a majority, the top two will advance to the second round in November.
The four are running to succeed Chief Justice Dan Kemp, who was first elected in 2016 and is not seeking re-election. A victory by any of the three sitting justices would give the court its first female chief justice in history.
Judge Courtney Hudson is battling Circuit Judge Carlton Jones for a new seat on the court. The two are seeking to replace Judge Cody Hiland, who Sanders appointed to the court last year.
If Jones wins the race, he will be the first Black elected judge on the court and the first Black elected official in Arkansas since Reconstruction.
The conservative groups that have spent heavily on cross-country racing in Arkansas have so far remained on the sidelines of this year’s races. The candidates in the races have tried to appeal to conservatives in the nonpartisan judicial races.
A victory by the sitting justices in either of Tuesday’s races would give Sanders new appointments to the court. Hudson is running for a different seat than the one she currently holds in an effort to gain more tenure due to judicial retirement rules.
The seats are open as the state’s highest court is set to hear major cases in several high-profile areas. Abortion rights advocates are trying to get a measure on the November ballot that would roll back a ban on the procedure that took effect when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade.
The court has also been asked to intervene in a fight between Sanders and the State Board of Corrections over who runs the prison system in Arkansas. Attorney General Tim Griffin is appealing a judge’s ruling against a law Sanders signed that would strip the board of directors’ ability to hire and fire the state’s top corrections officer.