The President Pro Tempore of the Arkansas Senate is the state senator in the Arkansas Senate elected by their fellow senators as the body's leader. They preside over the senate and lead negotiations with the Arkansas House of Representatives. Presidents of the Arkansas Senate typically serve for one term.[1]
Republicans went more than a century without a President Pro Tempore in the Arkansas Senate.[2]
Presidents of the Arkansas Senate
- Sam C. Roane / S. C. Roane 1837-1838[3][4] served as president of the Second Territorial Legislature's Council October 1 - October 24 1821 in Little Rock. Also served as a judge in Jefferson County.[3]
- Mark W. Izard (1838)
- Mark W. Izard (1840)
- Samuel Adams (1842-1843)
- John Williamson (1844-1845)
- William K. Sebastian (1846)
- R. C. Byrd (1848-1849)
- John R. Hampton (1850-1851)
- Thomas B. Hanly (November 1, 1852- January 12, 1853)
- B. C. Hanley (November 6, 1854 - January 22, 1855)
- J. R. Hampton (November 3, 1856 - January 15, 1857)
- Thomas Fletcher (November 1, 1858 - February 21, 1859)
- Thomas Fletcher (November 5, 1860 - January 21, 1861)
- Thomas Fletcher and then J. R. Hampton when Fletcher took over as governor after H. M. Rector resigned (November 5, 1862 - December 1, 1862)
- Thomas Fletcher, Confederate General Assembly in Washington D.C. (September 22, 1864 - October 2, 1864)
- C. C. Bliss (April 11 - June 2, 1864) and for Special Sessions (November 7, 1864 - January 2, 1865) and (April 3–22, 1865)
- Andrew Hunter (November 5, 1866 - March 23, 1867)
- J. M. Johnson (April 2, 1868 - July 23, 1868) and special session (November 17, 1868 - April 10, 1869)
- J. M. Johnson (January 2, 1871 - March 25, 1871)
- V. V. Smith (January 6, 1873 - April 25, 1873) and extraordinary session (May 11, 1874 – May 28, 1874)
- Bradley Bunch (November 10, 1874 - March 5, 1875) and (November 1, 1875 - December 10, 1875)
- James K. Jones (January 8, 1877 - March 8, 1877)
- M. M. Duffie (January 13, 1879 - March 13, 1879) (Matthew McClintock Duffie)
- H. C. Tipton (January 8, 1881 - March 19, 1881)
- J. B. Judkins (January 8, 1883 - March 28, 1883)
- R. B. Weaver (January 12, 1885 - March 18, 1885)
- D. E. Barker (January 10, 1887 - March 31, 1887)
- W. S. Hanna (January 10, 1889 - March 31, 1889)
- James P. Clarke (January 12, 1891 - April 3, 1891)
- E. B. Kinsworthy (January 9, 1893 - April 8, 1893)
- Gibson Witt (January 14, 1895 - April 10, 1895)
- William L. Moose (January 11 to March 11, 1897) and special session (April 26, 1897 - June 16, 1897)
- M. J. Manning[5] (January 9, 1899 - April 19, 1899)
- Robert J. Wilson (January 14, 1901 - May 4, 1901)
- Joseph L. Short (January 12, 1903 - April 30, 1903)
- Alonzo W. Covington (January 9, 1905 - May 4, 1905)
- John I Moore (January 14, 1907 - May 14, 1907)
- Jesse M. Martin (January 11, 1909 - May 12, 1909)
- Kemp Toney (1911)[6] (also served as a Speaker of the Arkansas House of Representatives)
- J. M. Futrell (1913)
- L. B. Kendall (1915)
- John Moncrief (1917)
- Ben E. McFarrin (1919)
- G. Otis Bogle / G. O. Bogle (1921)
- R. K. Mason (1923)
- S. B. McCall (1925)
- Freed Hutto (1927)
- Claud A. Rankin (1929) Claude?[7]
- Ned A. Stewart (1931)
- William F. Norrell (1933, 1935)
- F. S. Armstrong (1937)
- Roy Milum (1939)
- W. B. Smith (1941)
- G. W. Lookadoo (1943) (General Washington Lookadoo)[8]
- L. T. Barnett (1945)
- Clyde E. Byrd (1947)
- J. Orville Cheney (1949) (James Orville Cheney)
- Ellis M. Fagan (1951)
- Russell Elrod (1953)
- Lawrence Blackwell (1955)
- J. Lee Bearden (1957)
- Roy L. Reales Sr. (1959)
- Clifton Wade (1961) (George Clifton Wade (1910-?) )?
- Max Howell (1963)
- Fred H. Stafford (1965)
- Q. Byrum Hurst Sr. (1967)
- Morrell Gathright (1969-1970)
- Olen Hendrix (1971)
- Clarence E. Bell (1973)
- Robert Harvey (1975)
- W. K. "Bill" Ingram (1977)
- Knox Nelson (1979)
- Ben Allen (1981)
- W. D. Moore (1983)
- John Bearden (1985)
- Paul Benham Jr. (1986)
- Nick Wilson (1987)
- Bud Canada (1989)
- Jerry Bookout (1991)
- Jerry D. Jewell (1993)
- Stanley Russ (1995)
- Wayne Dowd (1997)
- Jay Bradford (1999-2000)
- Mike Beebe (2001)
- Jim Hill (2003)
- Jim Argue (2005)
- Jack Critcher (2007)
- Bob Johnson (2009)
- Paul Bookout (2011)
- Michael Lamoureux (2013 - 2014)
- Jonathan Dismang (2015) two terms
- Jim Hendren[9] (2019-2020)
- Jimmy Hickey Jr.
- Bart Hester (2023)[10]
References
- ^ "Arkansas Senate Pro Tempores".
- ^ "Reflecting on bi-partisanship in Arkansas politics". The Des Moines Register.
- ^ a b Arkansas (1903). "Reports of State Officers".
- ^ https://ssl-sos-site.ark.org/uploads/elections/historical_report1210.pdf
- ^ "Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Eastern Arkansas: Comprising a Condensed History of the State, a Number of Biographies of Distinguished Citizens of the Same, a Brief Descriptive History of Each of the Counties". 1890.
- ^ Sharp, James Roger; Sharp, Nancy Weatherly (1999). American Legislative Leaders in the South, 1911-1994. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9780313302138.
- ^ "Rankin 1". The Courier News. 7 August 1942. p. 13.
- ^ Ohio Legislative History: 1909-1912. F.J. Heer Printing. 1912.
- ^ "Arkansas Senate".
- ^ "Arkansas Senate elects Hester as president pro tempore; Shepherd elected House speaker for 3rd time | Arkansas Democrat Gazette". 9 January 2023.