The lieutenant governor of Arkansas presides over the
Arkansas Senate with a
tie-breaking vote, serves as acting
governor of Arkansas
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...
when the governor is out of state and assumes the governorship in cases of impeachment, removal from office, death or inability to discharge the office's duties. The position is elected separately from the Arkansas Governor.
The position of
Lieutenant Governor
A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...
was created by the Sixth Amendment to the
Arkansas Constitution
The Constitution of Arkansas is the primary organizing law for the U.S. state of Arkansas delineating the duties, powers, structures, and functions of the state government. Arkansas' original constitution was adopted at a constitutional conv ...
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
Harvey Parnell (February 28, 1880 – January 16, 1936) was an American farmer and politician from Southeast Arkansas. Parnell served in the Arkansas General Assembly for eight years, first in the Arkansas House of Representatives, and later servi ...
was elected Arkansas' first lieutenant governor.
Two recent incumbents,
Winthrop Paul Rockefeller and
Mike Huckabee
Michael Dale Huckabee (born August 24, 1955) is an American politician, Baptist minister, and political commentator who served as the 44th governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate for the Republican Party presidential nomina ...
, 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
Mark A. Darr (born July 3, 1973) is an American politician from Springdale, Arkansas, who was his state's 19th lieutenant governor from 2011 to 2014. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected in 2010 to succeed Democrat Bill Halter. To w ...
resigned on February 1, 2014, following an investigation into ethics violations involving illegal use of campaign funds.
List of officeholders
Notes
References
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;Constitutions
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{{Lists of lieutenant governors by U.S. state
Government of Arkansas