Sarah Huckabee Sanders' authority is 'not absolute' over special elections, state supreme court rules in another loss

Source: Law & Crime

Nov 13th, 2025, 12:52 pm
Updated Nov 13th, 2025, 1:52 pm


The Arkansas Supreme Court has denied Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' request to halt lower court orders demanding that she expedite special election dates in order to protect citizens' rights.

The high court's refusal to side with Sanders marks the latest legal loss for the governor, who has seen multiple rulings go against her in recent weeks. While the state supreme court did not explain the justices' reasoning for the decision, the circuit judges who issued the original rulings made clear that the cases concerned the "constitutional right" of representation.

After state Sen. Gary Stubblefield, who represented Arkansas' District 26, died in September, Sanders scheduled a special election for June 9, 2026, to fill the seat. However, Sixth Judicial Circuit Judge Patricia James held that this date is too late — past the 150-day time frame accorded by state law and beyond the state's 2026 fiscal session running from April to May.

"Should the special election take place on June 9, 2026, the citizens of Senate District 26 are left without a senator for the entire 2026 Fiscal Session of the General Assembly," the judge wrote in her order on Oct. 22. "The citizens of Senate District 26 would be unconstitutionally impaired if this were to occur."

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