Libertarian Party of Arkansas nominates 2026 general election candidates

A Franklin County resident who sued the state to move up the date of Senate District 26’s special election has been nominated as the Libertarian Party of Arkansas’ candidate for governor. 

Colt Shelby of Cecil is one of nearly two dozen candidates the Libertarian Party nominated during its annual convention in Little Rock last weekend.

Franklin County resident sues to move up election to fill Arkansas senator’s seat

Shelby sued after Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders initially scheduled the race for the late Sen. Gary Stubblefield’s seat until after this year’s legislative session. Stubblefield, a Branch Republican who died last year, had been an outspoken opponent of a 3,000-bed prison site advocated by Sanders that’s located in the district. 

To qualify for the ballot, the Libertarian party had to successfully petition to become a “new political party,” according to the group’s website. Candidates are nominated by convention and must submit their paperwork to the Arkansas secretary of state or the appropriate county clerk by noon on March 3, the date of the preferential primary election. 

In Arkansas, a political party is defined as any group of voters whose candidate for governor or president received at least 3% of all votes cast in the previous general election. 

The group ceases to be a political party if its nominee for governor or president does not receive 3% of the vote and must file a petition with the secretary of state with at least 10,000 signatures from registered voters to become a new political party. New parties nominate candidates by convention instead of by a primary election. 

This is the eighth consecutive electoral cycle in which the Libertarian Party has qualified for new political party status in Arkansas. 

Nominated candidates include:

U.S. Senate — Jeff Wadlin of Bentonville

U.S. Congress District 1 — Steve G. Parsons of Lakeview

U.S. Congress District 3 — Bobby Wilson of Bentonville

Governor — Colt Shelby of Cecil

Lt. Governor — Michael Kalagias of Rogers

Secretary of State — Michael Pakko of Roland

Commissioner of Lands — Christopher Olson of Viola

A complete list of candidates is available on the Libertarian Party of Arkansas’ website.