Arkansas attorneys in special election cases object to special justice appointment

Attorneys for the plaintiffs in the lawsuits that forced Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders to move up two special elections for legislative seats raised concerns Tuesday with the Republican governor’s pick of a special Supreme Court justice to hear the cases.

Sanders on Monday appointed Cory Cox, who served as chief of staff for former Attorney General Leslie Rutledge’s office, to hear the election cases.

The attorney representing Colt Shelby in the Senate District 26 lawsuit said in a filing Tuesday that Cox talked with the late Sen. Gary Stubblefield’s daughter after the lawmaker’s death about the timing of a special election before the lawsuit was filed. Shelby is the Libertarian nominee running against Sanders for governor.

Oral arguments were originally scheduled for May 21 for the two lawsuits, which were filed last year after Sanders set election schedules for separate legislative vacancies that lower court judges said violated state election law and the Constitution. But arguments for both cases were abruptly cancelled last week.


https://arkansasadvocate.com/2026/05/12/arkansas-attorneys-in-special-election-cases-object-to-special-justice-appointment/