LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Republicans and Democrats in the Arkansas Legislature vow to find common ground on divisive issues after voters handed Republicans control of the state Senate but left the balance of power in the House up in the air.
Tuesday's election results in Arkansas, where Republicans also swept the state's four congressional seats, complicated the to-do list for Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe and lawmakers from both parties. Neither party won the so-called supermajority needed to pass budget bills, and the House faced the possibility of neither party controlling an outright majority.
Republicans won 21 of 35 seats in the state Senate. In the House, Republicans held a 50-48-1 edge over Democrats and the Green Party with results from one contest still to be counted.
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- After Arkansas almost became the first southern state to legalize medical marijuana this week, supporters say they plan to tweak their proposal and try again.
Voters in Tuesday's election narrowly rejected the measure that would have allowed patients with certain qualifying conditions to use marijuana with a doctor's recommendation.
Chris Kell is a campaign strategist for Arkansans for Compassionate Care, the group advocating for the marijuana measure.
Kell says the proposal garnered more support than many people expected. About 51 ercent of voters opposed the marijuana issue.
Kell says the group plans to try again and may need to do away with a provision that would allow patients to grow marijuana if they live more than five miles from a dispensary.
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Republicans will control the Arkansas Senate in 2013 after sweeping to a majority for the first time since Reconstruction. In balloting on Tuesday, the Republican Party laid claim to at least 18 of the chamber's 35 seats, giving the party an edge it last saw during a special session in 1874.
Arkansas was the last state in the old Confederacy to never have Republicans control a legislative chamber since the post-Civil War period.
Republicans made steady gains in recent years and closed to a 20-15 gap during a strong Republican showing nationally in 2010. The party will have increased clout when dealing with Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe, who has long enjoyed a high approval rating.
The governor wants to expand Medicaid eligibility under a federal health care law that Republicans generally oppose.
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney won Arkansas' six electoral votes.
The former Massachusetts governor won the majority of the vote in the presidential election in Arkansas. He had been widely expected to win the state, where President Barack Obama remains deeply unpopular. Obama lost Arkansas by 20 points in the 2008 election and has not visited Arkansas since 2006.
Many of the state's top Republicans backed Romney's White House bid long before he won the nomination earlier this year. Romney has also mostly stayed clear of the state, though he held a private fundraiser in downtown Little Rock in August.
Republicans have made gains in Arkansas after tying Democrats to Obama and other unpopular national party leaders.
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ROGERS, Ark. -- Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Womack won re-election in northwest Arkansas' 3rd Congressional District.
The incumbent held onto the seat in Tuesday's election after defeating Green Party challenger Rebekah Kennedy and Libertarian candidate David Pangrac. Womack was widely expected to win after Democrat Ken Aden dropped out of the race this summer amid questions about his military record. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported military records and statements from officials contradicted Aden's claim that he was a U.S. Army Special Forces soldier.
Womack is a former Rogers mayor and retired colonel with decades of service with the Army National Guard. He beat out a former assistant city attorney in Fayetteville to win the 2010 election after then-U.S. Rep. John Boozman announced plans to run for the U.S Senate.
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President
2,329 of 2,386 precincts - 98 percent
x-Mitt Romney, GOP 640,273 - 61 percent
Barack Obama, Dem (i) 390,339 - 37 percent
Gary Johnson, Lib 16,055 - 2 percent
Jill Stein, Grn 9,219 - 1 percent
Peta Lindsay, PSL 1,723 - 0 percent
U.S. House District 1
688 of 688 precincts - 100 percent
x-Rick Crawford, GOP (i) 137,659 - 56 percent
Scott Ellington, Dem 95,243 - 39 percent
Jessica Paxton, Lib 6,371 - 3 percent
Jacob Holloway, Grn 4,975 - 2 percent
U.S. House District 4
864 of 864 precincts - 100 percent
x-Tom Cotton, GOP 153,073 - 59 percent
Gene Jeffress, Dem 94,500 - 37 percent
Josh Drake, Grn 4,975 - 2 percent
Bobby Tullis, Lib 4,943 - 2 percent
Issue 1 - Sales Tax for Highways Sales Tax for Highways
2,329 of 2,386 precincts - 98 percent
x-For, 591,656 - 58 percent
Against, 424,100 - 42 percent
Issue 2 - Local Development Bonds Local Development Bonds
2,329 of 2,386 precincts - 98 percent
For, 423,686 - 43 percent
x-Against, 552,325 - 57 percent
Issue 5 - Medical Marijuana Allow Medical Marijuana
2,329 of 2,386 precincts - 98 percent
For, 502,419 - 49 percent
x-Against, 532,328 - 51 percent
