James Ratliff
James Ratliff is a formerDemocratic member of theArkansas House of Representatives, representingDistrict 60 from 2011 to 2017. He previously ran unsuccessfully for the seat in 2002 and 2004.
Biography
Ratliff's professional experience includes working as an agriculture teacher.
Committee assignments
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Ratliff served on the following committees:
| Arkansas committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| •Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development |
| •Education |
| •Rules |
| •Legislative Council |
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Ratliff served on the following committees:
| Arkansas committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| •Joint Performance Review, Vice Chair |
| •Legislative Council |
| •Education |
| •Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development |
| •Joint Energy, Alternate |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Ratliff served on these committees:
| Arkansas committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| •Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development |
| •Judiciary |
| •Joint Performance Review |
| •Public Retirement and Social Security Programs |
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
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.[1]
Frances Cavenaugh defeated incumbentJames Ratliff in the Arkansas House of Representatives District 60 general election.[2]
| Arkansas House of Representatives, District 60 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Frances Cavenaugh | 50.82% | 5,112 | |
| Democratic | James RatliffIncumbent | 49.18% | 4,948 | |
| Total Votes | 10,060 | |||
| Source:Arkansas Secretary of State | ||||
IncumbentJames Ratliff ran unopposed in the Arkansas House of Representatives District 60 Democratic Primary.[3][4]
| Arkansas House of Representatives, District 60 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic | James RatliffIncumbent (unopposed) | |
Frances Cavenaugh ran unopposed in the Arkansas House of Representatives District 60 Republican Primary.[3][4]
| Arkansas House of Representatives, District 60 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican | Frances Cavenaugh (unopposed) | |
2014
Elections for theArkansas House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election took place on May 20, 2014; a runoff election took place where necessary on June 10, 2014. The general election was held onNovember 4, 2014. Thesignature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 3, 2014. IncumbentJames Ratliff was unopposed in the Democratic primary.Blaine Davis was unopposed in the Republican primary. Ratliff defeated Davis in the general election.[5][6]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | James RatliffIncumbent | 50.3% | 4,001 | |
| Republican | Blaine Davis | 49.7% | 3,951 | |
| Total Votes | 7,952 | |||
2012
Ratliff ran for re-election in the2012 election forArkansas House of Representatives, District 60. Ratliff ran unopposed in the May 22 Democratic primary and defeatedRonald Cavenaugh (R) in the general election on November 6, 2012.[7][8][9]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | James RatliffIncumbent | 52.8% | 5,151 | |
| Republican | Ronald Cavenaugh | 47.2% | 4,610 | |
| Total Votes | 9,761 | |||
2010
Ratliff defeatedRonald Cavenaugh andBlaine Davis in the May 18 primary. He then defeatedChad Moseley in the November 2 general election.[10][11]
| Arkansas House of Representatives, District 73 General Election (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| James Ratliff (D) | 3,865 | |||
| Chad Moseley (R) | 2,911 | |||
| Arkansas House of Representatives, District 73 Democratic Primary (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| James Ratliff (D) | 2,352 | |||
| Ronald Cavenaugh (D) | 1,697 | |||
| Blaine Davis (D) | 1,379 | |||
| Arkansas House of Representatives, District 73 Democratic Primary (2010) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| James Ratliff (D) | 2,562 | |||
| Ronald Cavenaugh (D) | 2,313 | |||
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Arkansas State House, District 60 | Won | $59,513 | N/A** |
| 2012 | Arkansas State House, District 60 | Won | $44,678 | N/A** |
| 2010 | Arkansas State House, District 73 | Won | $20,200 | N/A** |
| 2004 | Arkansas State House, District 73 | Lost | $6,975 | N/A** |
| 2002 | Arkansas State House, District 73 | Lost | $9,080 | N/A** |
| Grand total | $140,446 | N/A** | ||
| 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.
2017
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.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to conservative issues with "a focus on small business."
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to social issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
|---|
In 2016, the 90thArkansas State Legislature was in session from April 13 through May 9. The Legislature held a three-day special session from April 6 to April 8 over healthcare. The Legislature held a second special session from May 19 to May 23 over transportation.
|
2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
|---|
In 2015, the 90thArkansas State Legislature was in session from January 12 through April 2.
|
2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
|---|
In 2014, theArkansas General Assembly was in session from February 10 to March 20. Ballotpedia staff did not find any state legislative scorecards published for this state in 2014. If you are aware of one, please contacteditor@ballotpedia.org to let us know. |
2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
|---|
In 2013, the 89thArkansas State Legislature was in session from January 14 through May 17.
|
2012
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
|---|
In 2012, theArkansas General Assembly was in session from February 13 to March 13. Ballotpedia staff did not find any state legislative scorecards published for this state in 2012. If you are aware of one, please contacteditor@ballotpedia.org to let us know. |
2011
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2011, click [show]. |
|---|
In 2011, the 88thArkansas State Legislature was in session from January 10 to April 27.
|
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the termJames + Ratliff + Arkansas + House
See also
- Arkansas House of Representatives
- House Committees
- Arkansas State Legislature
- Arkansas state legislative districts
External links
- House website
- Profile from Open States
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Legislative Profile from Project Vote Smart
- Campaign contributions viaOpenSecrets
Footnotes
- ↑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
- ↑3.03.1Arkansas Secretary of State, "Candidate Information," accessed July 25, 2016
- ↑4.04.1Arkansas Secretary of State, "2016 Primary Election Results," accessed April 19, 2016
- ↑Arkansas Secretary of State, "Candidate Information," accessed March 5, 2014
- ↑Arkansas Secretary of State, "Official primary election results," accessed June 26, 2014
- ↑Arkansas Secretary of State, "Election Results 2012," accessed November 7, 2012
- ↑Arkansas Secretary of State, "2012 Election candidates," March 8, 2012
- ↑Arkansas Secretary of State, "Official 2012 Primary Results," accessed December 20, 2013
- ↑VoteNaturally.org, "Primary results," accessed May 12, 2014
- ↑Arkansas Secretary of State, "Official election results," accessed December 13, 2013
- ↑12.012.1Ballotpedia, "Arkansas's Freedom Scorecard," accessed July 10, 2017
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Tommy Thompson (D) | Arkansas House District 60 2013–2017 | Succeeded by Frances Cavenaugh (R) |
| Preceded by J.R. Rogers | Arkansas House District 73 2011–2013 | Succeeded by John Catlett (D) |
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