2010 United States Senate election in Arkansas


The 2010 United States Senate election in Arkansas took place on November 2, 2010 alongside other elections to the United States Senate in other states, as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln ran for re-election to a third term, facing a strong primary challenge from Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter and prevailing only in a runoff. However, the general election was won by U.S. Representative John Boozman, the younger brother of Fay Boozman whom Lincoln defeated in 1998. Boozman became the first Republican in 138 years to win this seat.

Democratic primary

The Democratic primary was held on May 18, 2010, with early voting from May 3 to 17. Lincoln was challenged by Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter, who ran as a more liberal alternative. As no candidate received 50 percent of the vote, a runoff election was held on June 8, with early voting from June 1 to 7. Lincoln managed to narrowly defeat Halter in the runoff.
MoveOn.org supported Halter, criticizing Lincoln for her stance on issues such as health care and environmental regulations. Labor unions also backed Halter, and pledged to spend more than $3 million on his campaign.

Candidates

Results

Runoff

Polling

Results

Republican primary

The Republican primary was held on May 18, 2010, with early voting from May 3–17.

Candidates

;Straw poll
In December 2009, a straw poll was held for the current Republican candidates for U.S. Senate. The results were as follows:
  1. Gilbert Baker – 35%
  2. Curtis Coleman – 33%
  3. Conrad Reynolds – 23%
  4. Tom Cox – 4%
  5. Kim Hendren – 2%
  6. Fred Ramey – 2%
  7. Buddy Rogers – 1%

    Polling

Results

General election

Candidates

Arkansas had previously only elected one Republican senator since the Reconstruction, Tim Hutchinson who was defeated after his first term in 2002 by Mark Pryor. Lincoln faced Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter and narrowly won the primary contest.
The political blog FiveThirtyEight ranked Lincoln the most vulnerable senator of this electoral cycle. RealClearPolitics claimed that in 2010 Lincoln had the potential for the lowest percentage of the vote for any incumbent since the nation first began directly electing senators. Boozman received 58% of the vote in the general election and defeated Lincoln, Libertarian Trevor Drown and Green John Gray.
Lincoln heavily criticized Boozman of supporting the FairTax and privatization of Social Security. She released an advertisement touting her support for earmarks.

Debates

Lincoln and Boozman agreed to two debates.
SourceRankingAs of
Cook Political ReportLeans ROctober 9, 2010
RothenbergR favoredOctober 8, 2010
Swing State ProjectSafe R
RealClearPoliticsSafe R
Sabato's Crystal BallSafe ROctober 28, 2010
CQ PoliticsLeans ROctober 9, 2010

Fundraising

Polling


Hypothetical polling		-------

Results

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