Arkansas was won by incumbent PresidentGeorge W. Bush by a 9.8% margin of victory. Prior to the election, 11 out of 12 news organizations considered this a state Bush would win, or otherwise considered as a red state. Although there was little advertising and campaigning, polling did show a tight race as Bush won the state in 2000 with just over 50%. This was the last election in which Arkansas was decided by a single-digit margin or in which the Democrat received more than 40% of the state’s vote, and the last election in which Arkansas voted to the left of Arizona, Louisiana, Tennessee, Texas, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Indiana.
