2026 Arkansas state legislative special elections

As of March 7, 2026, two special elections to the U.S. state of Arkansas's state legislature, the Arkansas Legislature, were held in 2026: one to the Arkansas Senate in District 26, and one to the Arkansas House of Representatives in District 70. Both were held on March 3, 2026. Both elections were originally scheduled to be held much later, sparking several lawsuits which were eventually consolidated. In November 2025, Governor of Arkansas Sarah Huckabee Sanders ordered the special elections to be moved to March after court orders.

A special election was made necessary in Senate District 26 by the death of Republican incumbent Gary Stubblefield on September 2, 2025. The general election will take place on March 3, 2026. Partisan primaries will be held on January 6 with a runoff election on February 3 if necessary. Political party candidates had until November 12, 2025 to file to run for the primary, and independents have until November 26, 2025 to file to run in the general election.^[1]

Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders had originally planned to hold the special election alongside the general election in November 2026, 427 days after Stubblefield's death. Arkansas state law states that state legislative special elections must take within 150 days of the vacancy, unless the 150-day time frame is "impracticable or unduly burdensome". The original election date would have left the District 26 seat empty throughout the 2026 fiscal session. The decision received bipartisan pushback, with Republican primary candidates Brad Simon, Ted Tritt, and the chair of the Arkansas Democratic Party all condemning the date.^[2]

It was later revised to take place on June 9, 280 days after the vacancy. This date still far exceeded the 150-day legal deadline by which the election needed to be held, under the June schedule a new member would still not be sworn in before the end of the 2026 fiscal session. Of the 17 special elections called since 2011 to fill vacancies in the state legislature, only eight have been held within that 150-day window, with the other eight only exceeding it by about a month. Both the 427-day and 280-day wait to till Stubblefield's vacancy was longer than any other special election called since 2011, with the 280-day wait being 91 days longer than the previous longest date.

After the election date was moved to June 9, 2026, Franklin County resident Colt Shelby filed a lawsuit stating the election date violated state law.^[3] On October 22, 2025, 6th Circuit Court Judge Patti James ruled in Shelby's favor and ordered an earlier election date. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Arkansas Secretary of State Cole Jester attempted to appeal the decision to the Arkansas Supreme Court, but the Court denied Sanders' and Jester's stay, leaving the lower court's ruling standing.^[4]

On November 16, Sanders complied with the court order and moved the election dates to March 3, 2026. Sanders remained defiant, repeatedly calling the decision an "unlawful order" in her proclamation moving the election dates.

Senate District 26 is located in Western Arkansas and contains parts of the counties of Franklin, Johnson, Logan, and Sebastian.^[5] Municipalities with populations above 1,000 in the district include Booneville, Charleston, Clarksville, Greenwood, Lamar, Lavaca, Ozark, Paris, and parts of Barling and Fort Smith. Stubblefield was re-elected in 2022 with 83.78 percent of the vote over a Libertarian opponent.

• Brad Simon, businessman^[6]

• Wade Dunn, businessman^[6]

• Mark Berry, former member of the Arkansas House of Representatives (2021–2025) from the 82nd district (2021–2023) and the 26th district (2023–2025)^[7]
• Stacie Smith, community affairs coordinator^[8]
• Ted Tritt, oil businessman^[7]

• Brenda Brewer, District 11 justice of the peace and Logan County Republican Party official^[9]

• Adam Watson, farmer and paralegal^[12]

A special election was made necessary in House District 70 by the resignation of Republican incumbent Carlton Wing on September 30, 2025, to become executive director of Arkansas PBS. The general election took place on March 3, 2026. Partisan primaries were held on January 6 with a runoff election on February 3 if necessary. Political party candidates had until November 12, 2025 to file to run for the primary, and independents have until November 26, 2025 to file to run in the general election.

Similarly to the Senate District 26 election, the special election was scheduled to take place after the 2026 fiscal session of the Legislature. Its lawsuits were consolidated with the SD 26 case, and the elections were ordered to be moved earlier in the year.

House District 70 is located entirely within Pulaski County in the Little Rock metropolitan area, containing parts Gibson, North Little Rock, and Sherwood. Republican Carlton Wing was re-elected in 2024 with 50.97 percent over the vote against a Democratic opponent. District 70 was one of the two closest Arkansas state house races in 2024, leading many to predict a Democratic victory in the special election, given the party's recent performances in other special elections across the country. While a Democratic victory would barely make a dent in the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, it could factor into negotiations for appropriations legislation, which requires a 75% supermajority to pass in each chamber.^[14]

• Alex Holladay, nominee for this district in 2024^[15]
• Cordelia Smith-Johnson^[15]

• Bo Renshaw, physical therapist^[15]