Arkansas Secretary of State John Thurston

John Manuel Thurston (born December 27, 1972) is the current Secretary of State of Arkansas; elected in November 2018, he has served in the position since January 2019. He previously served as

Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands The Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands is an executive position and constitutional officer within the Arkansas government which has been an elective post since 1874. Land Commissioners are elected to four year terms. The current state Land Commis ...

. A

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, he was first elected to that position in November 2010, took office in January 2011, and was reelected in November 2014 to a second term.

Early life

Thurston graduated in 1991 from Sheridan High School in

Grant County Grant County may refer to: Places ;Australia * County of Grant, Victoria ;United States *Grant County, Arkansas *Grant County, Indiana * Grant County, Kansas *Grant County, Kentucky *Grant County, Minnesota *Grant County, Nebraska *Grant C ...

in southern Arkansas. He then attended Agape College in the capital city of

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

. He is a former licensed Christian minister and a Certified Religious Assistant in the Arkansas state prison system. He worked 13 years for Agape Church in Little Rock before entering politics.

Lands Commissioner

Thurston is the first Republican to be elected as Land Commissioner since the office became elective in 1874. In 2014, Thurston was elected as the president of the Western States Land Commissioners Association; the organization's winter conference was held in Little Rock that year.

Arkansas Secretary of State

Limited to two terms as state lands commissioner, Thurston announced in June 2016 he would run in 2018 for election as

Arkansas secretary of state The secretary of state of Arkansas is one of the elected constitutional officers of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The current Secretary of State is Republican John Thurston, former Arkansas land commissioner from Pulaski County in central Arka ...

. As important issues, he cited election security, physical security, political accessibility, and redistricting of legislative boundaries. Thurston faced Trevor Drown in the Republican primary election, and was chosen as the Republican nominee. Running against former Director of Elections, Susan Inman, as the Democratic nominee, Thurston won election on November 6, 2018, as the next Arkansas Secretary of State.

Electoral history

2010 general election

2014 general election

2018 elections

2022 elections

References

External links

Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Thurston, John 1972 births Arkansas Republicans American Christian clergy Living people People from Saline County, Arkansas People from Sheridan, Arkansas Politicians from Little Rock, Arkansas Secretaries of State of Arkansas Sheridan High School (Arkansas) alumni