Democrats, Residents Sue Over Arkansas Special Election

The Democratic Party of Arkansas and four District 70 residents, including candidate Cordelia Smith-Johnson, sued Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Secretary of State Cole Jester in Pulaski County Circuit Court over Sanders’s decision to schedule the special election for June 9, 2026 to fill the seat vacated when Rep. Carlton Wing resigned to lead Arkansas PBS. Plaintiffs say the June date exceeds the 150-day limit in state law and asked a court to compel a March 3, 2026 special election with a primary on Dec. 9 or Jan. 13 and a runoff three weeks later. The filing seeks a writ of mandamus and argues the governor’s discretion ends after 150 days and that delaying the election would leave District 70 without representation during the fiscal legislative session beginning April 8, 2026. Sanders’s office defended aligning the House election with the Senate District 26 special election to save taxpayer dollars and enhance election security. Plaintiffs characterized the delay as “taxation without representation,” and the Democratic Party said this is the second lawsuit challenging the governor’s delayed special-election scheduling.