Joyce Ann Elliott (born March 20, 1951) is an American politician from the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

. Since 2009, she has been a member of the

Arkansas Senate The Arkansas State Senate is the upper branch of the Arkansas General Assembly. The Senate consists of 35 members, each representing a district with about 83,000 people. Service in the state legislature is part-time, and many state senators have ...

representing the 31st district, which consists of portions 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 ...

and Pulaski County. She was previously a member of the

Arkansas House of Representatives The Arkansas State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arkansas General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Arkansas. The House is composed of 100 members elected from an equal amount of constituencies across the ...

, serving from 2001 to 2007. She is a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. Elliott was the Democratic nominee in the

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

and

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

elections for

Arkansas's 2nd congressional district Arkansas's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district located in the central part of the U.S. state of Arkansas and includes the state capital of Little Rock, its suburbs and surrounding areas. The district leans Republican, with a Co ...

, losing the former election to

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 ...

Tim Griffin John Timothy Griffin (born August 21, 1968) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 20th lieutenant governor of Arkansas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the United States Attorney for the Eastern Dist ...

, and the latter to incumbent Republican

French Hill French Hill ( he, הגבעה הצרפתית, ''HaGiv'a HaTzarfatit'', ar, التلة الفرنسية, ''at-tel al-faransiya''), also Giv'at Shapira ( he, גִּבְעַת שַׁפִּירָא) is an Israeli settlement in northern East Jerusa ...

. If elected, she would have been the only African American to ever represent Arkansas in Congress.

Early life, education, and career

Joyce Ann Elliott was born on March 20, 1951, in

Willisville, Arkansas Willisville is a town in Nevada County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 148 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Hope Micropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Willisville is located at (33.514033, -93.295475). According to the Un ...

. Elliott was the second person of color to graduate from her recently integrated high school; the first was her older sister. Elliott attended

Southern Arkansas University Southern Arkansas University (SAU) is a public university in Magnolia, Arkansas. History Southern Arkansas University was established by an Act of the Arkansas Legislature in 1909 as a district agricultural high school for southwest Arkansas an ...

where she earned a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in English and speech. She attended

Ouachita Baptist University Ouachita Baptist University (OBU) is a private Baptist university in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. The university's name is taken from the Ouachita (pronounced WAH-shi-tah) River, which forms the eastern campus boundary. It is affiliated with the Arka ...

where she earned an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in English. Elliott taught at

Joe T. Robinson High School Joe T. Robinson High School is a public high school for students in grades 9 through 12 located in unincorporated Pulaski County, Arkansas, United States, just outside the city limits of Little Rock. The school is named after then U.S. Senator J ...

from 1989 to 2003.

State legislature

Elliott served in the

from 2000 to 2006. In 2008, she was elected to the

Arkansas State Senate The Arkansas State Senate is the upper branch of the Arkansas General Assembly. The Senate consists of 35 members, each representing a district with about 83,000 people. Service in the state legislature is part-time, and many state senators have ...

, where she represents the 31st district. Elliott began working on hate crime legislation in 2001 during her first term in office. Arkansas is one of three states without a statute criminalizing various types of bias-motivated violence or intimidation. As of 2020, she is the chair of the Arkansas Legislative Black Caucus. In 2020 she was endorsed by

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

Elections

2000 election

2010 election

Elliott ran against Republican nominee

Timothy Griffin John Timothy Griffin (born August 21, 1968) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 20th lieutenant governor of Arkansas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the United States Attorney for the Eastern Dis ...

for the seat of retiring Democratic incumbent

Vic Snyder Victor Frederick "Vic" Snyder (born September 27, 1947) is an American physician, lawyer, and politician who was the U.S. representative for from 1997 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He served in the United States Marine Corp ...

who retired. In the general election, Elliott lost to Griffin.

2020 election

Elliott announced her candidacy for the U.S. House in Arkansas's 2nd congressional district on November 12, 2019, against Republican incumbent

References

External links

Senator Joyce Elliott (D)
''official Arkansas Senate website''
Joyce Elliott for Congress
''official campaign site'' * , - , - , - 1951 births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians African-American state legislators in Arkansas African-American women in politics Democratic Party Arkansas state senators Living people Ouachita Baptist University alumni People from Nevada County, Arkansas Southern Arkansas University alumni Candidates in the 2020 United States elections Women state legislators in Arkansas 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women {{Arkansas-politician-stub