Presidential Candidates

Fourteen Arkansans or people closely associated with Arkansas have been candidates for president of the United States or have been considered contenders for the office. Some had short campaigns (or no campaign at all), while others have received significant national attention. Until 1968, Arkansans running for president generally represented minor parties with no hope of winning the general election. The campaign of Wilbur Mills in 1972 was the first to represent a serious chance at putting an Arkansan in the White House; hoping to be chosen on a later ballot at the Democratic convention, Mills continued his campaign until hours before the final vote. Following his success, other Arkansans entered the primaries of the two major parties and were taken seriously by voters in all parts of the United States. One Arkansan, Bill Clinton, was twice elected president of the United States. In 2016, Hillary Clinton became the first woman nominated on a major party ticket.

NAME	BIRTHPLACE	YEAR OR YEARS	PARTY	RESULT
George Edwin Taylor	Little Rock (Pulaski County)	1904	National Liberty	Nominated, but lost election to Theodore Roosevelt
Joseph Taylor Robinson	Concord Township (Lonoke County)	1924	Democratic	Nominated in convention as “favorite son” candidate, but lost nomination to John W. Davis
William “Coin” Harvey	Buffalo, Virginia (lived in Arkansas 1900–1936)	1932	Liberty	Nominated, but lost election to Franklin Roosevelt
Gerald Smith	Pardeeville, Wisconsin (lived in Arkansas 1964–1976)	1944; 1948	America First; Christian Nationalist	Nominated, but lost elections to Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman
Orval Faubus	Greasy Creek (Madison County)	1960	National States’ Rights	Nominated, but lost election to John Kennedy
Eldridge Cleaver	Wabbaseka (Jefferson County)	1968	Peace and Freedom	Nominated, but lost election to Richard Nixon
Winthrop Rockefeller	New York, New York (lived in Arkansas 1953–1973)	1968	Republican	Nominated at convention as a “favorite son” candidate; received eighteen votes, trailing Richard Nixon
Wilbur Mills	Kensett (White County)	1972	Democratic	Ran in primaries; lost nomination to George McGovern
Dale Bumpers	Charleston (Franklin County)	1988	Democratic	Explored candidacy, but chose not to run
Bill Clinton	Hope (Hempstead County)	1992, 1996	Democratic	Ran in primaries, was nominated twice, and won both elections
Mary Cal Hollis	Pine Bluff (Jefferson County)	1996, 2004	Socialist Party USA	Nominated in 1996; sought nomination for 2004 election but withdrew from race before the party’s convention.
Wesley Clark	Chicago, Illinois (has lived in Arkansas since 1947)	2004	Democratic	Ran in primaries; withdrew in February, trailing John Kerry
Hillary Rodham Clinton	Chicago, Illinois (lived in Arkansas 1974–1992)	2008, 2016	Democratic	Ran in primaries for 2008 election; won many states but finished second to Barack Obama. Announced candidacy again in 2016 and secured Democratic nomination. Lost to Donald Trump in general election.
Mike Huckabee	Hope (Hempstead County)	2008, 2016	Republican	Ran in primaries for 2008 election; won some states but finished behind John McCain. Announced candidacy again in 2016 but lost Republican nomination to Donald Trump.
Asa Hutchinson	Bentonville (Benton County)	2024	Republican	Announced in April 2023 that he was running for the Republican nomination in the presidential race but ended his campaign after garnering 0.2 percent of the vote in the January 15, 2024, Iowa Republican caucus.