New poll shows majority of Arkansans back former President Donald Trump over VP Kamala Harris

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A new poll released Friday shows strong support among Arkansas voters for former President Donald Trump but growing numbers in parts of the state for VP Kamala Harris.

The results of the poll from Talk Business & Politics and Hendrix College have Republican nominee Trump with a commanding 55% to 40% lead over his Democratic rival, who took over the lead spot on the ticket after President Joe Biden withdrew from the campaign in July.

In addition to the top party candidates, Independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Libertarian Chase Oliver each showed up with 1% support. Another 1% was split among various other candidates, and 2% were undecided. Green Party candidate Jill Stein showed 0% support.

The poll gathered the opinions of 696 likely voters around the Natural State and was conducted Sept. 5-6, which was after Kennedy said he was ending his campaign but before what could well be the only debate between Trump and Harris.

Talk Business & Politics editor-in-chief & Capitol View host Roby Brock said the poll results show a continuing trend of GOP dominance in the state’s elections.

“Donald Trump has been the leading choice of Arkansas voters in the past two election cycles,” Brock explained. “With the Republican Party’s dominance in Arkansas and Trump’s stronghold on the GOP, this result is quite consistent with historical performance.”

The news was not all bad for the vice president. The data showed that Harris actually led Trump in terms of support in the Second Congressional District, which includes parts of Little Rock and much of central Arkansas, as well as in the Third District in the northwest part of the state.

The former president shows very strong support in the First and Fourth Districts, Hendrix College emeritus professor of politics Jay Barth explained, with Trump being the choice for two out of three voters in those more rural parts of Arkansas.

“If Harris continues to show support in northwest Arkansas across the campaign it could have significant ramifications for the dynamics of the state’s politics moving forward,” Barth said.

Republican strategist and managing partner at Impact Management Group Robert Coon said the results showing strong support for Trump at this point in the race was expected and that he believes the split will widen before November.

“It’s no surprise that former President Donald Trump is leading in the race for President in Arkansas and his margin of victory will likely grow beyond the 15% gap shown in this poll,” Coon predicted.  “Vice President Kamala Harris receives 40% of the vote in this survey, a threshold that would exceed the 35% obtained by President Joe Biden in 2020 if it were to hold.”

For the full poll results, head to TalkBusiness.net .

Brock will release more poll results, including voters’ thoughts on November ballot issues and Arkansas elected officials, Sunday on Capitol View . The show airs at 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 p.m. on KNWA.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KNWA FOX24.