804,678 207,076 Start date November 4, 2008 | 79.53% 20.47% | |
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Winner Mark Pryor | ||
The 2008 United States Senate election in Arkansas was held on November 4, 2008. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Mark Pryor decided to run for a second term. No Republican filed to challenge him. His only opponent was Green Party candidate Rebekah Kennedy. He won re-election with 80% of the vote.
Contents
Democratic
Green
Campaign
On March 10, the state Republican Party announced it has no plans to field a candidate against Pryor. The only Republican to express interest in the race, health care executive Tom Formicola, decided not to run the weekend before filing began. Formicola lost the GOP primaries for the Senate in 2004 and the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006. As a result, Pryor was one of the few freshman Senators to face no major-party opposition in a reelection bid.
There had been speculation that former Governor Mike Huckabee would run against Pryor if his presidential bid were unsuccessful, but on March 8, Huckabee said he would not contest the race.
Polling
Pryor was polled at 90% in a poll without a challenger in March.