2214 Arkansas Gubernatorial Election

Quinton Geller
Democratic
Cael Henceroth
Republican

The **2214 Arkansas gubernatorial election** took place on November 8, 2214, to elect the Governor of Arkansas.

Republican state party chair Cael Henceroth successfully defeated incumbent Democratic Governor Quinton Geller.

The main issues of the campaign were solving the state's crumbling infrastructure and transportation problems, improving education, and dealing with corruption in the Governor's mansion.

## Background

Arkansas is a democratic-leaning state and has a large black population. Although it is now a hub for science and space research, Arkansas is still known for its booming agriculture. Democrats narrowly won the state in 2212, and they wanted to keep it in the midterms and 2216. The legislature, led by progressive democrats and liberal republicans passed sweeping public transit and infrastructure reform bills as well as a 15% increase in funding for public education. Their policies were popular among Arkansans, but the governor was not.

Quinton Geller (D) had been involved in several scandals during his administration. In 2211 he was caught cheating on his wife with an intern from his office. The year after, he was charged (but not convicted) of bribing a public official and embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from his campaign to buy a vacation home in Opportunity. Throughout his term, his approval rating never went above 40 percent. Although he did sign lots of groundbreaking legislation into law, Democrats wanted him out, and so did Republicans.

## Republican Primary

The corruption in the Democratic-controlled Governor's mansion was seen as a window of opportunity by Arkansas Republicans. However, they had trouble finding their ideal candidate. The first to announce was Micah Richards, a pastor and nominee for Arkansas's 3rd congressional district in 2212. He was a strong conservative with support from the America First Party. Richards was widely popular with first-time and Christian nationalists.  Dissatisfied with this choice Liberal Republicans recruited Chesney Lange, a businesswoman from Fort Smith. Lange was a former Democrat, and her platform consisted of social liberalism and economic conservatism. Hillary Atkinson, the minority leader of the Arkansas House of Representatives arose as a "compromise candidate". Her candidacy did not last very long; just two weeks into her campaign, she was charged with 16 counts of election fraud and ended her campaign. Richards and Lange attacked each other constantly for three months. Richards constantly attacked Lange for being a “RINO”. Lange attacked Richards for being a “religious opportunist that’s a danger to the state of Arkansas”. Sparks continued to fly between the two for four months. Richards then unexpectedly withdrew due to health problems. Lange's team celebrated.

However, state party leadership was dissatisfied with her ties to liberalism and therefore did not want her as the nominee. The state party asked Carl Henceroth to run. A principled conservative, Henceroth was the chair of the state's Republican Party. His platform was almost identical to Atkinson's, supporting infrastructure reform and restoring school choice. However, Henceroth was energetic, well-spoken, and came with little baggage. No debates were held between Henceroth and Lange. Lange called the process "a sham". She believed it was unfair to her supporters to have someone enter the primary at the last minute. However, Henceroth claimed victory, winning the primary by roughly 8 percent.

### Candidates

#### **Nominee**

* Cael Henceroth, Chair of the Arkansas Republican Party

#### **Withdrew**

* Hillary Atkinson, Minority Leader of the Arkansas House of Representatives
* Micah Richards, pastor and nominee for AR-03 in 2212

#### **Declined**

* Barrett Cox, state representative
* Elias Gore, U.S. Representative
* Derek Mosquera, U.S. Representative
* Brian Thomas, former Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas

## Democratic Primary

### Candidates

#### Nominee

* Quinton Geller, Incumbent Governor of Arkansas

#### Defeated in the Primary

* Aerion Hart, U.S. Representative
* Terrence Kilbride, Fort Smith city councilmember

#### Declined

* Penni Clements, Mayor of Pine Bluff
* Sawyer DeMuri, Attorney General of Arkansas
* Madison Gilliam, Arkansas Surgeon General
* Crinnion Lane, state senator
* Tavonda Lytle, Mayor of Little Rock
* Robyn Musemic, former state senator
* Tina Stein, state representative