Elections to the Arkansas Senate were held on November 4, 2008, to elect 18 candidates to the chamber. Members of the Arkansas Senate serve staggered four-year terms, with these seat's last elections taking place in 2004. Despite a twenty-point loss in the concurrent presidential election for Democratic nominee Barack Obama in the state, Democrats maintained their control of the state government, retaining their supermajority status in the Senate. Of the 18 seats up for election, Democrats won twelve and the Republicans six.

The vast majority of state senate seats were uncompetitive: only three had primary elections, and only the 30th district had a general election.

This election took place alongside races for U.S. President, U.S. Senate, U.S. House, state house, and numerous other state and local elections.

Overview

District Incumbent[1] Results[2]
SenatorPartyOutcome
1st Johnny Key Republican Incumbent re-elected.
  • ▌Green tickY Johnny Key (Republican) Unopposed
2nd Randy Laverty Democratic Incumbent re-elected.
3rd Ruth Whitaker Republican Incumbent re-elected.
4th Sharon Trusty Republican Incumbent re-elected.
7th Sue Madison Democratic Incumbent re-elected.
  • ▌Green tickY Sue Madison (Democratic) Unopposed
8th Dave Bisbee Republican Incumbent retired.
Republican hold.
9th Kim Hendren Republican Incumbent re-elected.
12th Jack Critcher Democratic Incumbent retired.
Democratic hold.
17th James Luker Democratic Incumbent re-elected.
20th Jim Hill Democratic Incumbent retired.
Democratic hold.
23rd Jerry Taylor Democratic Incumbent re-elected.
24th Jimmy Jeffress Democratic Incumbent re-elected.
25th Gene Jeffress Democratic Incumbent re-elected.
26th Percy Malone Democratic Incumbent re-elected.
30th Gilbert Baker Republican Incumbent re-elected.
  • ▌Green tickY Gilbert Baker (Republican) 20,253 votes, 55.01%
  • ▌Joe White (Democratic) 16,561 votes, 44.99%
31st Mary Anne Salmon Democratic Incumbent re-elected.
32nd Jim Argue Democratic Incumbent retired.
Democratic hold.
33rd Irma Hunter Brown Democratic Incumbent lost renomination.
Democratic hold.

Notes

  1. 1 2 Vote totals do not include uncontested races, which were not on the ballot

References

  1. ↑ "2007 Senate Composite". Arkansas Senate. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
  2. ↑ "Arkansas State Senate elections, 2008". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Arkansas_Senate_election