Although Clinton once served as the First Lady of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and from 1983 to 1992 as the wife of then-GovernorBill Clinton, Arkansas was considered to be a state Trump would win or otherwise a safe red state. Bill Clinton won the state twice in 1992 and 1996, but the state has trended Republican in every election since the 2000, and no Democrat won a statewide election there since 2010. Trump won the state with 60.57% of the vote, and Hillary Clinton received 33.65% of the vote.[2] The Republican candidate has carried Arkansas in every election starting in 2000. This is also the first election in which the state simultaneously voted for a Republican presidential candidate and a Republican Senate candidate. Arkansas was 1 of 11 states that voted twice for Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996 that Hillary Clinton lost in 2016.
Trump's 60.57% share of the vote is tied with Mitt Romney's 60.57% in 2012, making both candidates' performances the best result for the Republicans in Arkansas since Richard Nixon in 1972. However, Trump bested Romney in terms of margin, winning by 26.92% versus Romney's 23.69%. The Prohibition Party candidate, James Hedges, also had the notable achievement of finishing third in Arkansas County, ahead of major third-party candidates Gary Johnson and Jill Stein, the only county in the country where he did so.