Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas

The Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas presides over the Arkansas Senate with a tie-breaking vote, serves as governor when the governor is out of state, and serves as governor if the governor is impeached, removed from office, dies or is otherwise unable to discharge the office's duties. The lieutenant governor position is elected separately from the governor.

The position of Lieutenant Governor was created by the Sixth Amendment to the Arkansas Constitution in 1914, but was not filled until 1927. The Amendment was approved by the electorate in 1914, with returns showing 45,567 in favor and 45,206 opposed. The Speaker of the House declared the measure lost because it had not received a majority of the highest total vote, which was 135,517. In 1925, it was discovered that the Initiative and Referendum of 1910 had amended this majority requirement so that only a majority of those voting on a specific question was required. So, in 1926, the 1914 initiative was declared to be valid and Harvey Parnell was elected Arkansas' first lieutenant governor.

Three recent incumbents, Winthrop Paul Rockefeller, Mike Huckabee and Jim Guy Tucker, began their respective tenures in the midst of regular term periods, due to the elevation of their predecessors to the governorship. Tucker succeeded Bill Clinton as governor in December 1992, upon Clinton's resignation days before assuming his office as President of the United States, creating the need for a special election to fill the lieutenant governor's office. When Tucker was convicted of conspiracy and mail fraud charges in 1996, Huckabee succeeded him as governor, paving the way for the November 1996 special election of Rockefeller as lieutenant governor.

Prior to Tim Griffin's swearing-in in January 2015, the office had been vacant since Mark Darr resigned on February 1, 2014, following an investigation into ethics violations involving illegal use of campaign funds.^[1]

List of lieutenant governors

#	Image	Lt. Governor	Political Party	Term of Office	Governor(s) served under
4		Harvey Parnell	Democratic	1927–1928	John Ellis Martineau
5		William Lee Cazort	Democratic	1928–1931	Harvey Parnell
6		Lawrence Elery Wilson	Democratic	1931–1933	Harvey Parnell
7		William Lee Cazort	Democratic	1933–1937	Junius Marion Futrell
8		Robert L. Bailey	Democratic	1937–1943	Carl Edward Bailey Homer Martin Adkins
9		James L. Shaver	Democratic	1943–1947	Homer Martin Adkins Benjamin Travis Laney
10		Nathan Green Gordon	Democratic	1947–1967	Benjamin Travis Laney Sid McMath Francis Cherry Orval Faubus
11		Maurice Britt	Republican	1967–1971	Winthrop Rockefeller
12		Bob C. Riley	Democratic	1971–1975	Dale Bumpers
13		Joe Purcell	Democratic	1975–1981	David Pryor Joe Purcell Bill Clinton
14		Winston Bryant	Democratic	1981–1991	Frank D. White Bill Clinton
15		Jim Guy Tucker	Democratic	1991–1992	Bill Clinton
16		Mike Huckabee	Republican	1993–1996	Jim Guy Tucker (Democratic)
17		Winthrop Paul Rockefeller	Republican	1996–2006	Mike Huckabee
18		Bill Halter	Democratic	2007–2011	Mike Beebe
19		Mark Darr	Republican	2011–2014	Mike Beebe (Democratic)
20		Tim Griffin	Republican	2015–present	Asa Hutchinson

Living former U.S. Lieutenant Governors of Arkansas

As of January 2018, there are five former U.S. lieutenant governors of Arkansas who are currently living at this time. The oldest U.S. lieutenant governor of Arkansas being Winston Bryant (served 1981–1991, born 1938). The most recent death of a former U.S. lieutenant governor of Arkansas was that of Nathan G. Gordon (served 1947–1967, born 1916), on September 8, 2008. The most recently serving U.S. lieutenant governor of Arkansas to die was Winthrop P. Rockefeller (served 1996–2006, born 1948), in office on July 16, 2006.

References

• "About the Office". Arkansas Lieutenant Governors Office. 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-05-28. Retrieved 2009-06-02.