Arkansas's 1st congressional district
Arkansas's 1st congressional district is a U.S. congressional district in eastern Arkansas that elects a representative to the United States House of Representatives.
Arkansas's 1st congressional district | |||
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Representative |
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Area | 17,521 sq mi (45,380 km2) | ||
Distribution |
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Population (2018) | 724,622[1] | ||
Median income | $41,553[1] | ||
Ethnicity |
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Occupation |
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Cook PVI | R+17[2] |
It is currently represented by Republican Rick Crawford.
Geography
2003–2013
Before the 2010 census, the 1st district represented portions of northeastern Arkansas, encompassing the counties of Arkansas, Baxter, Clay, Cleburne, Craighead, Crittenden, Cross, Fulton, Greene, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Lawrence, Lee, Lonoke, Mississippi, Monroe, Phillips, Poinsett, Prairie, Randolph, Saint Francis, Searcy, Sharp, Stone, and Woodruff.
2013–2023
The district took in additional counties in the southeastern portion that were part of the 4th district which in turn took the entire eastern Arkansas border. It fully encompasses the counties of Arkansas, Baxter, Chicot, Clay, Cleburne, Craighead, Crittenden, Cross, Desha, Fulton, Greene, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Lawrence, Lee, Lincoln, Lonoke, Mississippi, Monroe, Phillips, Poinsett, Prairie, Randolph, Saint Francis, Searcy, Sharp, Stone, and Woodruff. The district also encompasses parts of Jefferson county.
Character
The Mississippi Delta has long been home to American industrial agriculture, with cotton, rice and soybeans by far the biggest export from the region. The 1st District covers most of the Arkansas Delta area and stretches as far west to the Ozarks. The farming areas, despite their fertility, are generally poor by national standards, with unemployment and undereducation as some of the greatest problems. Rice farms are the amongst the greatest recipients of federal farming subsidization - and three of the top five subsidy farms in the United States are in the 1st District, receiving over $100 million since 1996.
Some manufacturing has been sited in the region recently, with several auto parts factories being built in Marion and Toyota considering it as the site for its seventh North American plant.
Jonesboro is the largest town, home to a sizable food processing industry with companies such as Nestle and Frito-Lay sited here. Jonesboro is also home to Arkansas State University (ASU)-Jonesboro. While Jonesboro itself sports a Republican trend, along with some of the hill counties, it is balanced by the strong Democratic presence in the African American-dominated Mississippi River Delta.
Until recently, this resulted is a fairly closely divided vote in national politics. However, the district has been swept up in the growing Republican trend in Arkansas. While Al Gore narrowly carried the district in 2000 with 50% of the vote, George W. Bush won the district in 2004. The district swung even more Republican in 2008, giving John McCain 58.69% of the vote while Barack Obama received 38.41% here. The Republican vote has steadily increased since then, culminating in Donald Trump tallying 65 percent of the vote in 2016, his best showing in the state.
Recent election results from statewide races
Year | Office | Results |
2000 | President | Gore 50 - 48% |
---|---|---|
2004 | President | Bush 52 - 47% |
2008 | President | McCain 59 - 38% |
2012 | President | Romney 61 - 36% |
2016 | President | Trump 65 - 30% |
List of members representing the district
The district was created in 1853 after the 1850 United States Census added a second seat to the state. The at-large seat then was split between this district and the second district.
Member | Party | Year | Cong ress |
Electoral history |
---|---|---|---|---|
District created | March 4, 1853 | |||
Alfred B. Greenwood | Democratic | March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1859 |
33rd 34th 35th |
[data unknown/missing] |
![]() Thomas C. Hindman |
Democratic | March 4, 1859 – March 3, 1861 |
36th | [data unknown/missing] |
Vacant | March 4, 1861 – June 22, 1868 |
37th 38th 39th 40th |
Civil War and Reconstruction | |
Logan H. Roots | Republican | June 22, 1868 – March 3, 1871 |
40th 41st |
[data unknown/missing] |
James M. Hanks | Democratic | March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1873 |
42nd | [data unknown/missing] |
Asa Hodges | Republican | March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1875 |
43rd | [data unknown/missing] |
![]() Lucien C. Gause |
Democratic | March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1879 |
44th 45th |
[data unknown/missing] |
Poindexter Dunn | Democratic | March 4, 1879 – March 3, 1889 |
46th 47th 48th 49th 50th |
[data unknown/missing] |
William H. Cate | Democratic | March 4, 1889 – March 5, 1890 |
51st | Lost contested election |
Lewis P. Featherstone | Labor | March 5, 1890 – March 3, 1891 |
51st | Won contested election |
William H. Cate | Democratic | March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1893 |
52nd | [data unknown/missing] |
Philip D. McCulloch Jr. | Democratic | March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1903 |
53rd 54th 55th 56th 57th |
[data unknown/missing] |
Robert B. Macon | Democratic | March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1913 |
58th 59th 60th 61st 62nd |
[data unknown/missing] |
![]() Thaddeus H. Caraway |
Democratic | March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1921 |
63rd 64th 65th 66th |
[data unknown/missing] |
![]() William J. Driver |
Democratic | March 4, 1921 – January 3, 1939 |
67th 68th 69th 70th 71st 72nd 73rd 74th 75th |
[data unknown/missing] |
![]() Ezekiel C. Gathings |
Democratic | January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1969 |
76th 77th 78th 79th 80th 81st 82nd 83rd 84th 85th 86th 87th 88th 89th 90th |
[data unknown/missing] |
![]() William Vollie Alexander Jr. |
Democratic | January 3, 1969 – January 3, 1993 |
91st 92nd 93rd 94th 95th 96th 97th 98th 99th 100th 101st 102nd |
[data unknown/missing] |
![]() Blanche Lincoln |
Democratic | January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1997 |
103rd 104th |
[data unknown/missing] Retired. |
![]() Marion Berry |
Democratic | January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2011 |
105th 106th 107th 108th 109th 110th 111th |
[data unknown/missing] Retired. |
![]() Rick Crawford |
Republican | January 3, 2011 – present |
112th 113th 114th 115th 116th |
Incumbent |
Recent election results
2002
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Robert Marion Berry* | 129,701 | 67% | ||
Republican | Tommy F. Robinson | 64,357 | 33% | ||
Majority | 65,344 | 33% | |||
Total votes | 194,058 | 100.00 | |||
Democratic hold |
2004
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Robert Marion Berry* | 162,388 | 67% | ||
Republican | Vernon Humphrey | 81,556 | 33% | ||
Majority | 80,832 | 33% | |||
Total votes | 243,944 | 100.00 | |||
Democratic hold |
2006
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Robert Marion Berry* | 127,577 | 69% | ||
Republican | Mickey Stumbaugh | 56,611 | 31% | ||
Majority | 70,966 | 39% | |||
Total votes | 184,188 | 100.00% | |||
Democratic hold |
2008
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Robert Marion Berry* | 124,304 | 100% | ||
Majority | 100% | ||||
Total votes | 124,304 | 100% | |||
Democratic hold |
2010
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Rick Crawford | 93,224 | 52% | ||
Democratic | Chad Causey | 78,267 | 43% | ||
Green | Ken Adler | 8,320 | 5% | ||
Write-in | Write-ins | 205 | 0.11% | ||
Majority | 14,957 | 9% | |||
Total votes | 180,016 | 100.00% | |||
Republican gain from Democratic | |||||
2012
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Rick Crawford* | 138,800 | 56% | ||
Democratic | Scott Ellington | 96,601 | 39% | ||
Libertarian | Jessica Paxton | 6,427 | 3% | ||
Green | Jacob Holloway | 5,015 | 2% | ||
Majority | 42,199 | 17.10% | |||
Total votes | 246,843 | 100.00% | |||
Republican hold |
2014
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Rick Crawford* | 124,139 | 63% | ||
Democratic | Jackie McPherson | 63,555 | 32% | ||
Libertarian | Brian Scott Willhite | 8,562 | 5% | ||
Majority | 60,584 | 31% | |||
Total votes | 196,256 | 100.00% | |||
Republican hold |
2016
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Rick Crawford* | 183,866 | 76.28% | ||
Libertarian | Mark West | 57,181 | 23.72% | ||
Majority | 126,685 | 52.56% | |||
Total votes | 241,047 | 100.00% | |||
Republican hold |
2018
The 2018 election was held on November 6, 2018.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
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Republican | Rick Crawford (incumbent) | 138,757 | 68.9 | |
Democratic | Chintan Desai | 57,907 | 28.8 | |
Libertarian | Elvis Presley | 4,581 | 2.3 | |
Total votes | 201,245 | 100.0 | ||
Republican hold |
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in Arkansas, 2010
References
- "My Congressional District". www.census.gov. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
- "Partisan Voting Index – Districts of the 115th Congress" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
- 2016 election results
- Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
- Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
- Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present