John R. Cooper (born 1947), is 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 ...

politician from Jonesboro,

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 O ...

. He won a special election to fill a partial term in 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 ...

in 2014, and was reelected in 2016. He lost his reelection bid in the Republican Primary in March 2020.

Electoral history

2012 Arkansas House of Representatives

Cooper ran for the District 59 Arkansas House of Representatives in 2012 against Democrat Butch Wilkins. Wilkins defeated Cooper, but was

term-limited A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...

in 2014.

2014 Arkansas Senate (special)

Cooper intended to run for the District 59 seat again in 2014, but rather entered a special election for District 21 in the

following Paul Bookout's resignation in 2013 under an ethics cloud. In the three- candidate Republican primary on October 8, 2013, Cooper won the primary by 6 votes over Dan Sullivan, with Chad Niell in a distant third, but failed to obtain the 50% necessary to avoid a runoff election. Cooper defeated Sullivan in the November 12, 2013 runoff by 67 votes.67 votes The general election pitted Cooper against Steven Eric Rockwell, who had emerged from a Democratic primary. Cooper carried the support of the

Tea Party movement The Tea Party movement was an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2009. Members of the movement called for lower taxes and for a reduction of the national debt and federal budget defi ...

. Rockwell manages his family printing and publishing business in Jonesboro and called himself a "centrist" in the race. Retiring Democratic

Governor 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 ...

Mike Beebe Mickey Dale Beebe ( ; born December 28, 1946) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 45th governor of Arkansas from 2007 to 2015. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Born in Amagon, Arkansas, Beebe is a graduate of Arkan ...

cut ads for Rockwell. The election quickly became centered on the

Private Option Health insurance in the United States is any program that helps pay for medical expenses, whether through privately purchased insurance, social insurance, or a social welfare program funded by the government. Synonyms for this usage include ...

, with Rockwell for and Cooper against. It was also closely watched as a

bellwether A bellwether is a leader or an indicator of trends.bellwether
" ''Cambridge Dictionary''. Ret ...

for the November 2014 elections in Arkansas. Cooper won election on January 14, 2014, and was seated in the 89th Arkansas General Assembly. Cooper became the 23rd Republican in the 35-member Arkansas Senate, which had been 100 percent Democratic until 1969. In the campaign, Cooper said that he considers ethics reform and wasteful government spending among his legislative priorities.

2016 Arkansas Senate

In November 2016, Cooper won re-election to a full term in the Arkansas Senate unopposed in either the Republican primary or the general election.

2020 Arkansas Senate

Cooper was primaried by House Rep. Dan Sullivan in March 2020. Sullivan went on to win the seat unopposed in November, and was seated in the

93rd Arkansas General Assembly The Ninety-Third Arkansas General Assembly is the legislative body of the state of Arkansas in 2021 and 2022. The Arkansas Senate and Arkansas House of Representatives were both controlled by the Republicans. In the Senate, 28 senators were Re ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, John 1947 births Living people Politicians from Jonesboro, Arkansas People from Poplar Bluff, Missouri Republican Party Arkansas state senators Tea Party movement activists Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American politicians