Politics- Sen. John Boozman is projected to have defeated Democrat Natalie James in Arkansas.
- Boozman is one of 22 Republican US Senate candidates Donald Trump has endorsed.
Republican Sen. John Boozman is projected to have won Arkansas' Senate race against Democrat Natalie James.
Arkansas' Senate race candidates
Two-term Republican incumbent Boozman currently serves as a ranking member on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. He began his political career in the US House after winning a special election in 2001 and served in that position until his election to the US Senate in 2010.
Prior to his political career, he worked as an optometrist.
James, Boozman's challenger, has served on the City of Little Rock Land Bank Commission since 2020. In 2021, the president of the Little Rock Branch of the NAACP appointed her to chair the Branch Political Action Committee.
Prior to entering politics, James worked as a realtor and consultant. She defeated Dan Whitfield and Jack Foster in the Democratic primary, receiving over half of the vote.
Arkansas' voting history
The state voted for then-President Donald Trump over Joe Biden by a margin of about 28 percentage points in the 2020 election. Since 1968, Arkansas has gone Republican in 10 of 13 elections, and the Republican margin of victory has increased in each of the last five elections.
The money race
Boozman has a massive cash advantage in this race. According to OpenSecrets, Boozman has raised $7.4 million, spent $6.7 million, and has $1.1 million cash on hand, as of October 19.
His challenger, James, has raised $72,829, spent $49,174, and has $23,655 cash on hand, as of October 19.
As of late October, nearly a dozen super PACs, national party committees, politically active nonprofits, and other non-candidate groups had combined to spend about $5.7 million to advocate for or against candidates in this race, including during the race's primary phase, where Boozman prevailed over three challengers.
What experts say
The race between Boozman and James is rated as "solid Republican" by Inside Elections, "solid Republican" by The Cook Political Report, and "safe Republican" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.