Transforming a party
In his new book “From Blue to Red,” political scientist John C. Davis of Fayetteville identifies three generations of the modern Republican Party in Arkansas.
The first generation was from 1966-92, starting with the 1966 election of Winthrop Rockefeller as governor. Rockefeller was the first Republican governor since Reconstruction. That same year, John Paul Hammerschmidt of Harrison was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Hammerschmidt held the seat until his retirement from Congress in January 1993.
The second generation was from 1992-2010 as the party began to grow. In the summer of 1993, Republican Mike Huckabee edged Democrat Nate Coulter in a special election for lieutenant governor. Meanwhile, longtime Democratic officeholders began stepping off the stage.
The third generation is from 2010 to the present. Republicans ended generations of Democratic control. Davis notes that the state’s electorate has “realigned its partisan loyalties to heavily advantage the GOP and secure its dominance for the foreseeable future. … Several factors converged to create the current political and partisan climate.”
The story must start with Rockefeller. He moved to Arkansas from New York in 1953. By 1955, new Democratic Gov. Orval Faubus had appointed him as chairman of the Arkansas Industrial Development Commission (now Arkansas Economic Development Commission). Rockefeller’s charge was to bring industry to the state to replace tens of thousands of farm jobs lost due to the mechanization of agriculture.
“Throughout his time on the commission, Rockefeller involved himself in efforts to rebuild the Republican Party and promote the importance of a competitive two-party system in the state,” Davis writes. “He also invested considerable sums of money from his personal wealth to support Republican candidates in the 1960 and 1962 election cycles. By 1962, Rockefeller’s investment in the beleaguered party appeared to be inspiring more Arkansans to run as Republicans.
“In that election cycle, more people filed to run for office as Republicans than any other election year since Reconstruction, and Rockefeller personally funded the campaigns of 22 Republicans seeking state legislative positions.”
Rockefeller told Arkansans: “When I advocate an active, virile two-party system, I do so in the firm conviction that Arkansas as a state and Arkansans as individuals will benefit from it. Your freedom will be expanded. Your horizons will be broadened. And we will achieve a new significance in the nation. We will cease being taken for granted. I urge you to join in the work that lies ahead—not just two or four years ahead, but in the immediate future, to construct a meaningful, exciting second party.”
Rockefeller continued to serve at AIDC until March 1964 when he announced he would run against Faubus. The incumbent won a sixth two-year term that fall, but Faubus decided not to seek a seventh term in 1966. Rockefeller took advantage of the opening to defeat Democratic nominees Jim Johnson in 1966 and Marion Crank in 1968. Rockefeller’s political career ended with his loss to Democratic upstart Dale Bumpers in November 1970.
“In addition to being the first Republican governor since Reconstruction, Rockefeller’s financial support of the state party and his attempts to usher in a more progressive element challenged the party’s status quo,” Davis writes. “However, despite the newly invigorated efforts at party organization and Rockefeller’s own electoral victories, conflicts regarding the direction of the party and Rockefeller’s struggles working with a solid Democratic majority in the General Assembly left Republicans firmly entrenched as a weak, albeit strengthening minority party.
“While Rockefeller’s electoral success resulted in his party claiming the governor’s office for four years, much of his appeal to voters was not shared by his party members. His base of political support was largely among progressive Democrats, the few Republicans in the state and African Americans who had grown weary of Faubus and other Southern Democrats’ stances on race issues.”
Rockefeller died of cancer in 1973, and the Arkansas GOP began wandering in the political wilderness. Frank White’s victory over Democratic Gov. Bill Clinton in November 1980 was considered an anomaly. Clinton bounced back to beat White in 1982.
“Apart from Rockefeller’s time in the Governor’s Mansion, Hammerschmidt’s dominance of one U.S. House district and a smattering of others enjoying relatively short tenures in Congress as Republicans, the state politics of Arkansas ends this first generation of the modern party in much the same way it began — overwhelmingly Democratic,” Davis writes. “However, this was the era when the Republican Party shifted from something akin to a third-party organization to a viable component of a two-party system.
“In terms of raw numbers of Republicans in office during this generation, it would be easy to write off the party were it not the period where the initial organizational building blocks were laid out. … If not for the advancements made, Republicans would not have been so well poised to seize opportunities in the second iteration of the modern GOP.”
That second generation was marked by Huckabee’s more than 10 years as governor (Disclosure: I served as his communications and policy director for most of that time).
“Regardless of the unconventional way in which he assumed the position, the positive impact of Huckabee’s tenure as governor on the Republican Party was significant in many ways,” Davis writes. “In addition to the positive effects a popular gubernatorial incumbent like Huckabee might have on his party — particularly in terms of fundraising and candidate recruitment — Arkansas governors enjoy appointment power over state boards and commissions.
“Huckabee’s more than 10 years as governor meant, among other things, that he would use appointments to boards and commissions to reward the party faithful and, most importantly, cultivate and grant experience to a new generation of Arkansans who were less inclined to be blinded by the state’s dominant Democratic history.”
Davis begins his third GOP generation in 2010. In just three election cycles—2010, 2012, 2014—Arkansas went from one of the most Democratic states in the country to one of the most Republican states.
“Beginning in 2010, things dramatically changed as Republicans made historic gains— going from perennial underdog to dominating Arkansas politics,” Davis says. “It is difficult to express the stark contrast between the close of the second generation and the start of the third stage of the modern GOP. Despite gains in the 1990s and Republicans benefiting from the popularity of President George W. Bush among Arkansas voters, much of the momentum from that era had dissipated during the first decade of the century.
“By 2008, Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe enjoyed popularity among Arkansans as he worked with a Democratic-controlled General Assembly. The state’s U.S. senators were both Democrats (one of whom, Mark Pryor, would not even face a Republican opponent in 2008), and three of the four U.S. House members were also Democrats.”
Even though Beebe carried all 75 counties in his 2010 re-election campaign, Republican Tim Griffin was elected to Congress in the 2nd District, Republican Rick Crawford won in the 1st District, Republican John Boozman was elected to the Senate and Republicans won every contested state Senate race.
“The 2010 cycle may have seemed to usher in a new level of Republican success in Arkansas, but it was the 2012 and 2014 cycles that solidified GOP dominance as the party not only gained all state constitutional offices but also the remaining U.S. Senate seat and U.S. House seat (along with majorities in both chambers of the state’s General Assembly),” Davis writes.