Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas

The Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas presides over the Arkansas Senate with a tie-breaking vote, serves as Governor of Arkansas when the officeholder is out of state and assumes the governorship in cases of impeachment, removal from office, death or unability to discharge the office's duties. The position is elected separately from the Arkansas Governor.

Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas
State seal
Incumbent Tim Griffin since January 13, 2015 (2015-01-13)
Seat	State Capitol, Little Rock, Arkansas
Term length	Four years, renewable once (Seventy-third Amendment to the Arkansas Constitution of 1874)
Constituting instrument	Arkansas Constitution of 1864
Inaugural holder	Calvin C. Bliss
Formation	April 18, 1864 (1864-04-18)
Website	ltgovernor.arkansas.gov

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.

Two recent incumbents, Winthrop Paul Rockefeller and Mike Huckabee, began their respective tenures in the midst of regular term periods, due to the elevation of their predecessors to the governorship. Jim Guy 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 officeholders

Lieutenant Governors of the State of Arkansas

No.	Lieutenant Governor			Term in office	Party	Election	Governor[lower-alpha 1]
1			Calvin C. Bliss	April 18, 1864 – July 2, 1868	Republican	1864		Isaac Murphy
2			James M. Johnson	July 2, 1868 – March 14, 1871	Republican	1868 [lower-alpha 2]		Powell Clayton (resigned March 17, 1871)
—	Vacant			March 14, 1871 – January 6, 1873	—
								Ozra Amander Hadley
3			Volney V. Smith	January 6, 1873 – November 12, 1874	Republican	1872 [lower-alpha 3]		Elisha Baxter
Office did not exist from November 12, 1874, to January 11, 1927
4			Harvey Parnell	January 11, 1927 – March 4, 1928	Democratic	1926 [lower-alpha 4]		John Ellis Martineau
—	Vacant			March 4, 1928 – January 14, 1929	—			Harvey Parnell
5			Lee Cazort	January 14, 1929 – January 12, 1931	Democratic	1928
6			Lawrence Elery Wilson	January 12, 1931 – January 10, 1933	Democratic	1930
7			Lee Cazort	January 10, 1933 – January 12, 1937	Democratic	1932		Junius Marion Futrell
						1934
8			Robert L. Bailey	January 12, 1937 – January 12, 1943	Democratic	1936		Carl Edward Bailey
						1938
						1940		Homer Martin Adkins
9			James L. Shaver	January 12, 1943 – January 14, 1947	Democratic	1942
						1944		Benjamin Travis Laney
10			Nathan Green Gordon	January 14, 1947 – January 10, 1967	Democratic	1946
						1948		Sid McMath
						1950
						1952		Francis Cherry
						1954		Orval Faubus
						1956
						1958
						1960
						1962
						1964
11			Maurice Britt	January 10, 1967 – January 12, 1971	Republican	1966		Winthrop Rockefeller
						1968
12			Bob C. Riley	January 12, 1971 – January 3, 1975	Democratic	1970		Dale Bumpers
						1972 [lower-alpha 5]
—	Acting as governor			January 3, 1975 – January 14, 1975	—			Bob C. Riley
13			Joe Purcell	January 14, 1975 – January 3, 1979	Democratic	1974		David Pryor
						1976 [lower-alpha 6]
—	Acting as governor			January 3, 1979 – January 9, 1979	—			Joe Purcell
13			Joe Purcell	January 9, 1979 – January 19, 1981	Democratic	1978		Bill Clinton
14			Winston Bryant	January 19, 1981 – January 15, 1991	Democratic	1980		Frank D. White[lower-alpha 7]
						1982		Bill Clinton
						1984
						1986 [lower-alpha 8]
15			Jim Guy Tucker	January 15, 1991 – December 12, 1992	Democratic	1990 [lower-alpha 9]
—	Vacant			December 12, 1992 – November 20, 1993	—			Jim Guy Tucker[lower-alpha 10]
16			Mike Huckabee	November 20, 1993 – July 15, 1996	Republican	1993 (special)
						1994 [lower-alpha 11]
—	Vacant			July 15, 1996 – November 19, 1996	—			Mike Huckabee
17			Winthrop Paul Rockefeller	November 19, 1996 – July 16, 2006	Republican	1996 (special)
						1998
						2002 [lower-alpha 12]
—	Vacant			July 16, 2006 – January 9, 2007	—
18			Bill Halter	January 9, 2007 – January 11, 2011	Democratic	2006		Mike Beebe[lower-alpha 10]
19			Mark Darr	January 11, 2011 – February 1, 2014	Republican	2010 [lower-alpha 13]
—	Vacant			February 1, 2014 – January 13, 2015	—
20			Tim Griffin	January 13, 2015 – present[lower-alpha 14]	Republican	2014 2018		Asa Hutchinson

Notes

1. Lieutenant governors represented the same party as their governor unless noted.
2. Johnson resigned as part of party machinations to allow Clayton to resign without Johnson succeeding him; the office remained vacant for the remainder of the term.[2][3]
3. First term under the 1871 constitution, which shortened terms to two years.
4. Martineau resigned[4] and Parnell served as governor for the remainder of the term.
5. Bumpers resigned and Riley acted as governor for the remainder of the term.
6. Pryor resigned and Purcell acted as governor for the remainder of the term.
7. Represented the Republican Party.
8. First term under a 1984 constitutional amendment, which lengthened terms to four years.
9. Clinton resigned and Tucker served as governor for the remainder of the term.
10. Represented the Democratic Party.
11. Tucker resigned and Huckabee served as governor for the remainder of the term.
12. Rockefeller died in office; the office remained vacant for the remainder of the term.
13. Darr resigned; he was under sanction for ethics violations involving illegal use of campaign funds.[5] The office remained vacant for the remainder of the term.
14. Griffin's second term began on January 15, 2019 and will expire in January 2023.

References

General

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

Constitutions

• "Constitution of the State of Arkansas" (pdf). Arkansas State Legislature. 1874. Retrieved August 2, 2008.
• Arkansas; Rose, U. M. (1836). Constitution of the State of Arkansas. Retrieved October 13, 2008.
• Arkansas; Rose, U. M. (1861). Constitution of the State of Arkansas. Retrieved October 13, 2008.
• Arkansas; Rose, U. M. (1864). Constitution of the State of Arkansas. Retrieved October 13, 2008.
• Arkansas; Rose, U. M. (1868). Constitution of the State of Arkansas. Retrieved October 13, 2008.

Specific

1. "It was a bad week for Mark Darr (again)". Arkansas Times. February 6, 2014. Retrieved August 21, 2016.
2. Hempstead, Fay (1911). Historical Review of Arkansas: Its Commerce, Industry, and Modern Affairs. p. 269. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
3. "Ozro Amander Hadley (1826–1915)". Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
4. "John Ellis Martineau". National Governors Association. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
5. "Mark Darr, Arkansas lt. gov., says he'll resign over ethics case". Politico. Retrieved November 27, 2018.