BY: AINSLEY PLATT-SEPTEMBER 30, 2025 7:36 PM
The daughter of the late Republican Sen. Gary Stubblefield of Branch criticized Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders Tuesday for setting a special election to fill her father’s seat for next June, leaving his district without representation during the 2026 fiscal session.
Speaking at a press conference at the state Capitol called by Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, Amber Sullivan said her efforts to get answers about the timing of the special election have gone nowhere. She urged Arkansans to contact Sanders’ office and state legislators.
Stubblefield died Sept. 2. Sanders declared the seat vacant on Sept. 15.
“My father represented his people. He loved his state, loved his country, and he loved Franklin County,” Sullivan said. “His seat should not go unrepresented for eight months, nine months — it shouldn’t go five months unrepresented.”
Arkansas law requires governors to call a special election to fill a vacant legislative seat within 150 days, unless they find it impractical or too burdensome to do so. Jan. 30 would be 150 days from Stubblefield’s death; Feb. 12 would be 150 days from Sanders’ declaration of a vacancy.
Last week, Sanders said she set the special election dates to coincide with next year’s midterm elections “to save taxpayer money,” streamline the election process, and maximize voter turnout. She later revised the schedule after bipartisan outcry, but the general election will still fall after the conclusion of the 2026 fiscal session.
The special primary currently coincides with the midterm primaries on March 31, 2025. The special general election will be on June 9. The Legislature’s fiscal session starts in April and ends May.
Sullivan said the need for a more immediate election is about more than having a voice on the controversial Franklin County prison project, which her father and many in Senate District 26 strongly oppose. The voters in District 26 “deserve a voice” in legislative debates on matters such as health insurance and education that will come up between now and next June. She called on Sanders to move the election up.
King excoriated the scheduling move by Sanders, comparing her revised decision to hold the special general election next June to voter fraud. He said the governor was intentionally trying to deprive District 26 of a legislative voice. One vote in the Senate, he said, “can impact millions of dollars.”
“This governor believes that [District 26] should not have representation during one of these crucial times,” said King, who has been, like Stubblefield, a vocal opponent of the prison site chosen by Sanders’ administration. “These people in Franklin County, who are going to be the most possibly impacted for decades, are not going to have a voice down here.”
Sanders spokesperson Sam Dubke on Tuesday repeated Sanders’ assertion that the election-date decision was meant to save the state money.
“Following conversations with election officials, the Governor decided that holding the primary for District 26 on the statewide primary date and holding the special election on the soonest possible primary date afterward saves taxpayer dollars and ensures the election is free, fair, and secure,” Dubke wrote in a text message.
The cost of holding an election entirely separate from the regular dates ranged from $41,000 to $55,000, depending on if poll workers were hired, according to a spokesperson from Secretary of State Cole Jester’s office. Under the current schedule, that means the state stands to save $20,500.
King invoked former President Theodore Roosevelt and said the idea that an election could not be held sooner was “bullfeathers.” He pointed to the 2021 special election to replace former Republican Sen. Lance Eads in District 7. Eads resigned at the end of October 2021. His replacement was elected at the beginning of February 2022.
“You’re basically allowing stolen representation,” King said.
Samantha Boyd, Jester’s spokesperson, said state and federal law contained “minimum timeline standards” for overseas voters and members of the military that made June the earliest possible date for the general election with a March primary. She also said under current law, absentee ballots must be prepared by a county election board at least 47 days in advance of a primary or general election.
Appropriations bills, including $750 million in funding for the Franklin County prison’s construction, require a two-thirds majority in the Senate, or 27 votes. The prison appropriations bill failed five times during the 2025 regular session.
