Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and unsuccessful Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Jones both reported raising about $50,000 in campaign contributions in the quarter that ended March 31, according to their campaign finance reports filed this week.
During the last quarter, Sanders reported spending about $230,000 and Jones reported spending about $16,000.
The campaign finance reports for state candidates were due in the secretary of state's office Monday.
Jones said Thursday that he has used some of the campaign funds that he raised last quarter to begin paying off his campaign debt from the 2022 general election campaign, and he expects to complete paying off campaign debt in the quarter that started April 1.
For the 2026 primary election, Sanders reported raising $49,449.20 in contributions and spending $230,003.17 last quarter, leaving $2.74 million in the bank as of March 31.
The largest contributors to Sanders last quarter included $2,900 each from the Sig Sauer PAC of Newington, N.H., John Peck Jr. of Dallas, Texas, and Charles Tankersley of North Little Rock.
The largest expense payments by Sanders' campaign last quarter included $55,738.03 to Safe Haven Security Group of Rogers for consulting, $53,041.71 to Salem Strategies of Panama City Beach, Fla., for consulting, and $39,997.37 to Mail Haus of De Pere, Wisc., for direct mail postage.
As of Dec. 30, Sanders reported $2.9 million in remaining campaign funds from her successful gubernatorial campaign after she raised a total of $9.8 million and spent $6.8 million for the general election campaign.
To help retire debt from his 2022 general election campaign, Jones reported raising $50,431.29 and spending $16,137.92 last quarter, leaving a balance of $42,405.86 on March 31.
According to Jones' report for the last quarter, Capi Peck and Scott Hamilton on March 13 contributed food and beverages for a debt retirement fundraiser for Jones.
As of Dec. 30, Jones reported $48,523.92 in campaign debt after he raised $2.087 million and spent $2.082 million for the general election. That debt included $25,088.02 to Invictus Strategy Group of Arlington, Va., for fundraising services, $12,019.99 to Capitol Compliance Associatees of Washington, D.C. for compliance services, $11,220.91 to Bumper-active of Austin, Texas, for campaign merchandise and $195 to the Elias Law Group of Washington, D.C. for legal services, according to the Dec. 30 report.
In the quarter that ended March 31, Jones reported expenses including $10,000 to the Invictus Strategy Group for fundraising services and $722.50 to the Elias Law group for legal services.
The largest contributors to Jones last quarter included Jones, who contributed $4,500; Marlon Haynes of Little Rock, who contributed $2,500; and former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick of Richmond, Mass., who contributed $2,400.
Meanwhile, Republican Lt. Gov. Leslie Rutledge of Maumelle reported raising nothing from contributors and spending $29,519.69 last quarter for the 2026 primary election, leaving $290,463.56 in the bank as of March 31. Rutledge's expenses included $14,667.47 on Jan. 9 to the Capital Hotel for event venue/catering, according to her report.
Asked about using campaign funds for an inaugural event, Rutledge's Chief of Staff Drew Evans said under Arkansas Code Annotated 7-6-203(f)(4)(A)(ii), candidates or officeholders may use campaign funds to fulfill any commitment, obligation, or expense authorized by law, or permitted by an Arkansas Ethics Commission rule or opinion at the time of the expenditure, or reasonably and legitimately related to a campaign or officeholder activity.
Republican Attorney General Tim Griffin of Little Rock reported raising $1,080 and spending $90,075.05 last quarter for the 2026 primary election, leaving $715,391.75 in the bank of as March 31.
Griffin's expenses last quarter included $40,000 to his campaign manager, state Rep. David Ray, R-Maumelle; $6,324. 19 on Jan. 11 to the Capital Hotel for an inaugural reception and $2,426.18 on Jan. 11 to Catering Arkansas for catering and $5,500 to Remington Research Group of Kansas City, Mo., for survey research, according to his campaign finance report.
Asked about using campaign funds for an inaugural reception, Griffin said Thursday the Arkansas Ethics Commission's Rule 223 (a) on campaign finance and disclosure states that candidates and officeholders are free to expend campaign funds on any purpose designed to further their campaign or office as long as it is not for personal income or otherwise prohibited by law.
Act 454 of 2021 repealed a ban on candidates for public office from soliciting or accepting campaign contributions more than two years before an election in which the candidate seeks nomination or election unless they are seeking contributions to retire a previous debt.
The law was enacted after U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr. in May 2020 issued a permanent injunction to replace his earlier temporary order declaring unconstitutional a state law prohibiting candidates for state office from accepting campaign contributions more than two years before elections.
At issue was the constitutionality of Arkansas Code Annotated 7-6-203 (e), which was adopted by voters in 1996 as part of a package of amednments to campaign-finance laws. The amendments were an effort to combat corruption.
Plaintiff Peggy Jones complained the law infringed on her right of political expression by preventing her from donating money in 2019 to people she wanted to support in the 2022 election cycle. At the judge's request for more specifics, she named one of those people as Sen. Mark Johnson, R-Ferndale, who Jones said had told her he planned to run again in 2022. She said she had supported him in 2018 as well.