The 94th General Assembly began January 9 with more than a quarter of the conclave being newly elected lawmakers due to term limits, redistricting, and primary losses in May, 2022. Twenty-nine of 35 state Senators are Republicans while Republicans also control 82 of 100 state House seats.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ inauguration this year marks the first time since Reconstruction in the late 1860s that Arkansas has had back-to-back Republican governors — and, not only is she the first female Governor and the first daughter of a previous governor to be elected, she’s also the youngest governor in the country.
Looking at the other Republican constitutional offices, Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin and AG Leslie Rutledge switched chairs, as did former State Treasurer Dennis Milligan, who is now State Auditor. Former lawmaker Mark Lowery has taken the office of State Treasurer.
While Republicans kept all the state’s constitutional and federal offices (U.S. Senator/U.S. Representative), we also increased our supermajorities in the state Legislature in the 2022 mid-term elections.