Overview
- Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared the District 26 seat vacant on Sept. 19, and state law requires the special election be set as soon as practical after a 150-day wait, with dates still pending.
- The Republican Party of Arkansas said on Sept. 24 it will hold a primary, and the Arkansas Democratic Party announced on Sept. 25 it will do the same.
- Three Republicans have entered the race—Brad Simon, Ted Tritt and Mark Berry—and no Democrats had announced as of the latest reports.
- District 26 spans parts of Franklin, Johnson, Sebastian and Logan counties, including the proposed site of a 3,000-bed state prison that the late Sen. Gary Stubblefield opposed.
- Simon and Tritt say they oppose the prison plan, Berry did not address it in his launch, and Democratic chair Marcus Jones cast the election as a referendum on the project after a $750 million prison funding bill failed earlier in the Senate.