Chris Carnahan
Chris Carnahan is an officeholder of the Arkansas 20th Judicial Circuit Division 1.
Carnahan ran for election for the Position 2 judge of the Arkansas Supreme Court. He lost in the general runoff election on November 8, 2022.
Carnahan completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.
Carnahan was appointed to the circuit court in October 2016 by Gov. Asa Hutchinson for a term lasting from January 1, 2017, to December 31, 2018. He replaced Judge Mike Murphy, who was elected to the Arkansas Court of Appeals.[1][2]
Biography
Carnahan obtained a B.A. and a J.D. from the University of Arkansas, Little Rock. He also holds an M.A. from the University of Central Arkansas.[2]
At the time of his appointment in October 2016, Carnahan was general counsel for the Arkansas State Board of Pharmacy. His professional experience also includes work as senior deputy prosecuting attorney for the 20th Judicial District and deputy prosecuting attorney for the 15th Judicial District. He has also served as city attorney for Holland, Oppelo, and Menifee; city prosecutor for Fairfield Bay and Marshall; and election commissioner for Faulkner County.[2]
Elections
2022
See also: Arkansas Supreme Court elections, 2022
General runoff election
General runoff election for Arkansas Supreme Court Position 2
Incumbent Robin Wynne defeated Chris Carnahan in the general runoff election for Arkansas Supreme Court Position 2 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Robin Wynne (Nonpartisan) | 58.4 | 450,094 |
 | Chris Carnahan (Nonpartisan)  | 41.6 | 321,123 | |
| Total votes: 771,217 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
General election
General election for Arkansas Supreme Court Position 2
Incumbent Robin Wynne and Chris Carnahan advanced to a runoff. They defeated David Sterling in the general election for Arkansas Supreme Court Position 2 on May 24, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Robin Wynne (Nonpartisan) | 49.5 | 202,815 |
| ✔ | | Chris Carnahan (Nonpartisan) | 28.8 | 117,859 |
 | David Sterling (Nonpartisan) | 21.7 | 88,938 | |
| Total votes: 409,612 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Chris Carnahan completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Carnahan's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
I am I lifelong Arkansan who believes we need judges to stay in their lane and. It legislate from the bench. I’ve been a Circuit Judge, small town attorney, deputy prosecutor, Republican election commissioner for my county and former Executive Director of the Republican Party of Arkansas. I graduated from McClellan High School in Little Rock and have degrees in mathematics and history from UALR and a Masters Degree in History from UCA. Proud dad to Logan!
- I support Constitutional Law and Order
- I will not legislate from the bench
- I will not pre-judge the outcome of the case to achieve public policy goals that I want as an individual.
Equality before the law
Certain and swift enforcement of the criminal laws
Protection Of the individual against overreaching government authority.
Keeping each citizens’ Second amendment rights free from unwarranted governmental infringement
George Washington
The fall of the US Embassy in Saigon. I didn’t understand the significance at the time but remember how angry my father was.
Kroger bagger. Was there for about five months
Original textualist
Clarence Thomas
Yes as long as she or he follows the law.
I believe the Arkansas Supreme Court strays outside its Constitutional limits and has erred in its application in cases of political concern that are best left to the Executive and Legislative branches.
They are the guarantor of the limitations placed on government by the people of the State of Arkansas.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
| ||||||||||
Federal courts:
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Arkansas, Western District of Arkansas • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Arkansas, Western District of Arkansas
State courts:
Arkansas Supreme Court • Arkansas Court of Appeals • Arkansas Circuit Courts • Arkansas District Courts • Arkansas City Courts
State resources:
Courts in Arkansas • Arkansas judicial elections • Judicial selection in Arkansas
 |
State of Arkansas Little Rock (capital) |
|---|---|
| Elections |
What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2024 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures |
| Government |
Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy |
