Danny Watson
Danny Watson (Republican Party) was a member of theArkansas House of Representatives, representingDistrict 88. He assumed office on January 9, 2023. He left office on January 13, 2025.
Watson (Republican Party) ran for re-election to theArkansas House of Representatives to representDistrict 88. He won in the general election onNovember 8, 2022.
Biography
As of 2023, Danny Watson lived in Hope, Arkansas. Watson earned a degree in wildlife management from Louisiana Tech University. His career experience includes working as a transportation consultant, the director of safety of a trucking company, and a law enforcement officer with the Hope Police Department and the Arkansas Highway Police.[1][2]
Watson has served on the Hope School District Board of Directors and the Hempstead County Quorum Court. He has been affiliated with the Hope/Hempstead County Chamber of Commerce, the Prescott/Nevada County Chamber of Commerce, the Hope Kiwanis Club, and the Hempstead County Relay for Life.[1][2]
Committee assignments
2023-2024
Watson was assigned to the following committees:
- House Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development Committee
- House Judiciary Committee
- Joint Energy Committee
2021-2022
Watson was assigned to the following committees:
- Public Transportation Committee,Vice-chair
- Joint Energy Committee
- Legislative Joint Auditing Committee
- Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative and Military Affairs Committee
2019-2020
Watson was assigned to the following committees:
- Joint Energy Committee
- Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative and Military Affairs Committee
- Public Transportation Committee
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Arkansas committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| •Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative and Military Affairs |
| •Revenue and Taxation |
| •Joint Energy |
| •Joint Energy |
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according toBillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2024
Danny Watson did not file to run for re-election.
2022
See also: Arkansas House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
General election for Arkansas House of Representatives District 88
IncumbentDanny Watson won election in the general election for Arkansas House of Representatives District 88 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Danny Watson (R) | 100.0 | 2,446 |
| Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source | Total votes: 2,446 | ||
 = candidate completed theBallotpedia 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. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Chester Griffith (L)
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. IncumbentDanny Watson advanced from the Republican primary for Arkansas House of Representatives District 88.
Libertarian convention
Libertarian convention for Arkansas House of Representatives District 88
Chester Griffith advanced from the Libertarian convention for Arkansas House of Representatives District 88 on February 20, 2022.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | Chester Griffith (L) | |
| There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. | |||
| = candidate completed theBallotpedia 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. | ||||
2020
See also: Arkansas House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Arkansas House of Representatives District 3
IncumbentDanny Watson defeatedLarry Faulkner in the general election for Arkansas House of Representatives District 3 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Danny Watson (R) | 69.3 | 6,444 |
| Larry Faulkner (D) | 30.7 | 2,848 | ||
| Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source | Total votes: 9,292 | ||
| = candidate completed theBallotpedia 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. | ||||
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled.Larry Faulkner advanced from the Democratic primary for Arkansas House of Representatives District 3.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. IncumbentDanny Watson advanced from the Republican primary for Arkansas House of Representatives District 3.
2018
General election
The general election was canceled. IncumbentDanny Watson won election in the general election for Arkansas House of Representatives District 3.
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Arkansas House of Representatives District 3
IncumbentDanny Watson advanced from the Republican primary for Arkansas House of Representatives District 3 on May 22, 2018.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Danny Watson |
| Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. | |||
| = candidate completed theBallotpedia 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. | ||||
2016
Ballotpedia's analysis revealed that only 42 of the 100 seats up for election in 2016 involved competition between Democrats and Republicans. This made it numerically impossible for Democrats to take control of either Arkansas legislative chamber in 2016.
The reason for thelow competition was that candidates were in safe districts for their parties.Between 1972 and 2014, an upward trend in uncontested state legislative elections occurred.
TheDemocratic Party of Arkansas focused its 2016 efforts on the state’s House of Representatives. Without the numbers to win thestate Senate, H.L. Moody, communications director for the Democratic Party of Arkansas, told Ballotpedia that the party’s goal was to “start building back where we can,” beginning with the House.
Ballotpedia spoke to political analystRichard Winger, who said that the early primary deadline for the 2016 elections was a possible factor as well, making it difficult for Democrats to recruit candidates early.
The primary election was held on March 1, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing period began at noon local time on November 2, 2015, and ended at noon local time on November 9, 2015.[3]
Danny Watson defeated incumbentBrent Talley andCecil Anderson in the Arkansas House of Representatives District 3 general election.[4]
| Arkansas House of Representatives, District 3 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Danny Watson | 56.86% | 5,311 | |
| Democratic | Brent TalleyIncumbent | 41.46% | 3,872 | |
| Libertarian | Cecil Anderson | 1.68% | 157 | |
| Total Votes | 9,340 | |||
| Source:Arkansas Secretary of State | ||||
IncumbentBrent Talley ran unopposed in the Arkansas House of Representatives District 3 Democratic Primary.[5][6]
| Arkansas House of Representatives, District 3 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic | Brent TalleyIncumbent (unopposed) | |
Danny Watson ran unopposed in the Arkansas House of Representatives District 3 Republican Primary.[5][6]
| Arkansas House of Representatives, District 3 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican | Danny Watson (unopposed) | |
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also:Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Danny Watson did not completeBallotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
Danny Watson did not completeBallotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf.Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at theFEC website. Clickhere for more on federal campaign finance law andhere for more on state campaign finance law.
| Year | Office | Status | Contributions | Expenditures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Arkansas House of Representatives District 88 | Won general | $16,100 | $14,791 |
| 2020 | Arkansas House of Representatives District 3 | Won general | $38,575 | N/A** |
| 2018 | Arkansas House of Representatives District 3 | Won general | $14,011 | N/A** |
| 2016 | Arkansas House of Representatives, District 3 | Won | $54,720 | N/A** |
| Grand total | $123,406 | $14,791 | ||
| Sources:OpenSecrets, Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC). | ||||
| ** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle | ||||
| Note: Totals above reflect only available data. | ||||
Scorecards
Ascorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Arkansas scorecards, email suggestions toeditor@ballotpedia.org.
2024
In 2024, theArkansas State Legislature was in session from April 10 to May 9.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to small business issues.
2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
|---|
In 2023, theArkansas State Legislature was in session from January 9 to May 1.
|
2022
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
|---|
In 2022, theArkansas State Legislature was in session from February 14 to March 15.
|
2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
|---|
In 2021, theArkansas State Legislature was in session from January 11 to October 15.
|
2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
|---|
In 2020, theArkansas State Legislature was in session from April 8 to April 24.
|
2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
|---|
In 2019, theArkansas State Legislature was in session from January 14 through April 24.
|
2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
|---|
In 2018, theArkansas State Legislature was in session from February 12 through March 12. The legislature held a special session from March 13 to March 15.
|
2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
|---|
In 2017, the 91stArkansas State Legislature was in session from January 9 through May 1. The Legislature held a special session from May 1 to May 3.
|
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑1.01.1Information submitted through Ballotpedia's biographical submission form on March 11, 2016
- ↑2.02.1Arkansas House of Representatives, "Danny Watson," accessed April 3, 2023
- ↑Arkansas Secretary of State, "2016 Election Dates," accessed November 17, 2015
- ↑Arkansas Secretary of State, "2016 General Election and Nonpartisan Runoff Election," accessed November 23, 2016
- ↑5.05.1Arkansas Secretary of State, "Candidate Information," accessed July 25, 2016
- ↑6.06.1Arkansas Secretary of State, "2016 Primary Election Results," accessed April 19, 2016
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Clint Penzo (R) | Arkansas House of Representatives District 88 2023-2025 | Succeeded by Dolly Henley (R) |
| Preceded by - | Arkansas House of Representatives District 3 2017-2023 | Succeeded by Stetson Painter (R) |
- 2016 general election (winner)
- 2016 incumbent
- 2018 general election (winner)
- 2018 incumbent
- 2018 primary (winner)
- 2020 general election (winner)
- 2020 incumbent
- 2020 primary (winner)
- 2022 general election (winner)
- 2022 incumbent
- 2022 primary (winner)
- Arkansas
- Arkansas House of Representatives candidate, 2016
- Arkansas House of Representatives candidate, 2018
- Arkansas House of Representatives candidate, 2020
- Arkansas House of Representatives candidate, 2022
- Former member, Arkansas House of Representatives
- Former state legislative member
- Former state representative
- Republican Party
- State House candidate, 2016
- State House candidate, 2018
- State House candidate, 2020
- State House candidate, 2022
- State house candidates
- 2016 challenger
- 2016 primary (winner)
