2008 United States Senate election in Arkansas
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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.
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November 4, 2008
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 County results Pryor: 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% | |||||||||||||||||
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Kennedy received the highest ever vote share of any Green Party candidate running for U.S. Senate,[1] 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. 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.[2]
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 has 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 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.[3]
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.[4]
Pryor's sole challenger was Green Party nominee Rebekah Kennedy, who entered the race in April 2007.[5] Kennedy received 206,504 votes (20.54%).[6] 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.[1] 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
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| The Cook Political Report[7] | Safe D | October 23, 2008 |
| CQ Politics[8] | Safe D | October 31, 2008 |
| Rothenberg Political Report[9] | Safe D | November 2, 2008 |
| Real Clear Politics[10] | Safe D | November 4, 2008 |
Polling
Pryor was polled at 90% in a poll without a challenger in March.[11]
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Mark Pryor (incumbent) | 804,678 | 79.53% | |
| Green | Rebekah Kennedy | 207,076 | 20.47% | |
| Total votes | 1,011,754 | 100.00% | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
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)