9:08pm Update: Craighead County Election Coordinator Jennifer Clack released the final results from Tuesday’s election at 9:00pm. “I have the greatest group of people who work these elections,” Clack said. “People all over the state wonder how we get finished so early. It’s these awesome people.”
There will be a December 3 runoff for Jonesboro Mayor. Harold Copenhaver received 44% of the vote, L.J. Bryant 34%, Jeremy Terrell 15% and Thomas Elwood 3.70%. Copenhaver and Bryant will face-off in the runoff.
The jail tax question failed by some 4,000 votes. The question of raising the Jonesboro city library millage also failed.
All Craighead County state legislators were re-elected as were all Craighead County Quorum Court justices who had opponents.
Councilman Chris Moore was re-elected to Ward 2 Position 2 on the Jonesboro City Council.
Former Bono Mayor L.M. Duncan defeated William F. Carr for a seat on the Bono City Council.
Voters supported Donald Trump and JD Vance for President with 67.16% voting for the Republican ticket, 29.92% for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz and the Democratic ticket. National news outlets “called” Arkansas for Trump/Vance shortly after the polls closed at 7:30pm. First District Congressman Rick Crawford won re-election Tuesday with a commanding lead over challenger Rodney Govens.
Craighead County voters voted in favor of State Issues 1 and 2 and also voted in favor of re-electing Secretary of State John Thurston — statewide results suggest similar outcomes statewide.
For complete Craighead County returns see our final election results story.
8:33pm Update: As of 8:30pm 6 out of 15 Craighead County voting locations are reporting, plus early and absentee voting. 32,145 votes are included in the totals as of 8:30pm.
There was no change in any of the races of interest. Jonesboro Mayor Harold Copenhaver and Councilman L.J. Bryant appear headed for a December 3 runoff election. The jail tax question appears headed for defeat barring a major shift in the voting-approval currently trailing by about 3,200 votes. The question of raising the Jonesboro city library millage also appears headed for defeat.
District 20 State Senator Dan Sullivan appears headed for re-election. Sullivan leads challenger Erika Askeland by over 5,000 votes. District 32 State Representative Jack Ladyman leads challengers David McAvoy and Eric I.B. McGee with 58% of the vote and appears headed for victory without a runoff. District 30 State Representative Fran Cavenaugh will be re-elected with a comfortable lead over challenger Hamilton Holmes.
For complete Craighead County returns follow our continuously updated story.
Earlier
Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – November 5, 2024 – Craighead County Election Coordinator Jennifer Clack released the results of early and absentee balloting shortly after the polls closed at 7:30 today. A total of 27,290 votes were included in the total.
Jonesboro incumbent Mayor Harold Copenhaver held the early lead with 8,371 votes (44.91%), Councilman L.J. Bryant had 6,378 votes (34.22%), Jeremy Terrell had 2,800 votes (15.02%) and Tom Elwood had 641 votes (3.44%). If nothing changes the rest of the night, there would be a runoff in four weeks between Copenhaver and Bryant. In order to avoid a runoff Copenhaver would need to have one vote more than 50% OR have 40% of the vote AND finish at least 20% of the nearest challenger. Both scenarios seem unlikely suggesting a runoff.
The question regarding a jail tax was failing in early/absentee voting. 14,174 against the tax (51.94%), 11.523 for the tax (42.44%).
The question regarding increasing the city millage to support the Jonesboro Craighead County Library was also failing in early/absentee voting. 10,939 against (58.69%) and 7,208 for the increase (38.67%).
Because so many votes were cast in early/absentee balloting, the likelihood of significant changes in the races is unlikely. Only very close races typically have any change in trends as the results come in.
There are a total of 15 voting locations that will report before final totals are in.
The total numbers will be posted in our election totals story and updated throughout the night. We are posting the percentages immediately to save time. We will post the raw total numbers as time allows and will include them in the final totals later in the evening.