From left: Republican Secretary of State John Thurston, Democrat John Pagan and Libertarian Michael Pakko are running for Arkansas treasurer in a November 2024 special election. (Courtesy photos)
Arkansas Secretary of State John Thurston will serve the remaining two years of the current state treasurer’s term.
Thurston faced Democrat John Pagan and Libertarian Michael Pakko in a race for the position left open by former Treasurer Mark Lowery’s death last year.
According to the Secretary of State’s office, the results were as follows:
- Thurston — 747,372 votes (65.42%)
- Pagan — 345,614 votes (30.25%)
- Pakko — 49,415 votes (4.33%)
In 2022, Lowery was elected treasurer and Thurston was elected to his second term as secretary of state. Lowery died in July 2023 after suffering two strokes. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders appointed former state finance secretary Larry Walther as interim treasurer.
Thurston’s election means Sanders will appoint a new secretary of state to complete his term. Thurston will be eligible to run for treasurer again in 2026.
He said Tuesday that the possibility of leaving his current office “was the hardest thing” about running for treasurer.
Before his first term as secretary of state, Thurston served two terms as commissioner of state lands.
“I guess the proudest element [of my campaign] was my track record as a constitutional officer,” he said. “I think that’s what Arkansans look at. I’m not new to the scene, they know me. They know the job that I do.”
The treasurer serves as the state banker and oversees the state’s investment portfolio of more than $11 billion.
Thurston said his goal as treasurer is “to make sure that the money is secure, obviously focusing on liquidity because it’s important, and communication with the Legislature and the governor to make sure money is liquid and available when they are planning a project — like a prison.”
Sanders announced last week that the state purchased 815 acres for a new prison in Franklin County.
Additionally, Thurston said he wants to start visiting cities, counties and agencies in his first 90 days in office to “see if there’s anything we can do to make the service better.”
Pagan said Tuesday that he was proud to be part of the Democratic Party of Arkansas’ statewide effort to increase its footprint in the state. He also said campaigning statewide reminded him “how beautiful the state is [and] how diverse.”
“I met a lot of very nice folks, including some people I’m sure didn’t vote for me, some Republicans who had a nice sense of humor about it,” Pagan said. “I almost never sensed the hostility and the anger that you hear so much about.”
Pagan is a law professor and former state senator. Pakko is an economist who said he was running against the two-party system.
A central part of Pagan’s campaign was his criticism of Thurston’s handling of a proposed state constitutional amendment that would have created a limited right to abortion. As Secretary of State, Thurston is responsible for counting signatures for citizen-led ballot measures and certifying qualified initiatives for the ballot.
Thurston disqualified a portion of the 102,000 signatures, leaving the rest below the required minimum, and in August the Arkansas Supreme Court upheld his decision not to put it on the ballot. Pagan said Thurston was “playing politics” with his job and might do the same if elected to a new office.
Reporter Mary Hennigan contributed to this article.
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