Two female judges compete to lead Arkansas' highest court

Arkansas supreme court runoff election puts two experienced justices head-to-head for chief position. The winner of this non-partisan race will make state history as next chief justice

November 3 2024 , 08:24 AM  •  3368 views

Two female judges compete to lead Arkansas' highest court

In a ground-breaking race for Arkansas highest court two justices – Karen Baker and Rhonda Wood – moved forward to a runoff after Marchʼs four-candidate contest where neither got enough votes to win

The non-partisan election (which will replace outgoing leader Dan Kemp) hasnt seen the usual big-money support from GOP groups that marked previous races: however its significance lies in guaranteeing a historic outcome

Despite the upcoming leadership change the courts conservative-leaning majority will stay intact – the runoff simply determines which experienced justice will take the helm. Both candidates bring strong backgrounds to the position; their match-up follows a first round where they emerged as top picks from a field of 4 candidates