Thurston wins Treasurer race; Baker leads Wood in Chief Justice contest

Secretary of State John Thurston, R-Ark., will be Arkansas’ next Treasurer of State having defeated a Democratic and Libertarian candidate handily on Tuesday (Nov. 5).

Thurston, the Republican nominee, led Democrat John Pagan 65.3% to 30.3% with 63 of 75 counties reporting. Libertarian Michael Pakko received 4.3% of the vote.

The win by Thurston will create a vacancy in the Secretary of State’s office in January when he assumes his new constitutional office. Gov. Sarah Sanders will appoint a replacement as Secretary of State to fill the two years left on Thurston’s term.

The Treasurer’s office, currently held by gubernatorial appointee Larry Walther, was vacated in 2025 when newly elected Treasurer Mark Lowery passed away after complications from a stroke.

With 86% of precincts reporting, Arkansas Supreme Court Justice Karen Baker led Justice Rhonda Wood by a 52.3% to 47.7% margin in the Chief Justice race.

If the results hold, Baker will serve as Chief Justice, a seat held by Chief Justice John Dan Kemp, who did not seek re-election. Baker’s associate justice seat would come open in January allowing Gov. Sanders to appoint a replacement to the state’s high court.

If Wood loses, she will remain on the Supreme Court in her current Associate Justice role.

Earlier this year, Justice Courtney Hudson won an open seat on the Supreme Court. When she is sworn in on January 1, 2025, she will vacate her current seat providing Gov. Sanders with a second appointment on the court. Current Justice Cody Hiland is filling out the term of a Supreme Court Justice, but his appointment will expire in January.

In an Arkansas Court of Appeals race for District 6, Position 1, which includes Pulaski and Perry counties, Circuit Judge Casey Tucker defeated Molly McNulty, a clerk at the Court of Appeals by a 52.3% to 47.67% margin.