WASHINGTON (AP) — Arkansas voters are electing leaders for federal, state and other offices on Tuesday.
Here are some key facts about the election and data points the AP Decision Team will monitor as the votes are tallied.
Polls close at 7:30 p.m. local time, which is 8:30 p.m. ET.
The Associated Press will provide vote results and declare winners in races for U.S. Senate, governor, U.S. House, mayor of Little Rock, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, statewide ballot measures, state Senate, state House and land commissioner.
About 900,000 votes were cast in the 2022 race for the U.S. Senate in Arkansas.
About 56% of votes in the 2022 race for the U.S. Senate in Arkansas were cast early or by absentee ballot. The latest advance vote totals for Arkansas can be found in the AP’s advance vote tracker.
All Arkansas counties are expected to release all or nearly all results from early and absentee voting in the first vote update of the night, before any in-person Election Day results are released. About a third of counties, mostly among the least populated in the state, also release all in-person Election Day results in the first vote report. But most of the state releases little to no Election Day results at the start of the night.
The first results of the 2024 general election were reported starting at 8:35 p.m. ET on Nov. 5, five minutes after polls closed. The state reached 50% of votes reporting at 9:42 p.m. ET, and 90% of votes reporting at 11:39 p.m. ET.
The Associated Press does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow a trailing candidate to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.
Arkansas does not have automatic recounts, but candidates may request and pay for one, with the costs refunded if the outcome changes. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2026 election at https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/.
This photo made with a smartphone shows Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., speaking at a news conference Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026, in Little Rock, Ark. (AP Photo/Laura Turbay)
First lady Melania Trump hands a pen used to sign an executive order to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as Cheryl Hines, from left, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and President Donald Trump, right, look on during an event about women's health, in the Rose Garden of the White House, Monday, Oct. 19, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Federal investigators in Oregon will work to determine why a helicopter on a test flight collided with another chopper flown by a young instructor and her student, killing all three people aboard both aircraft.
The National Transportation Safety Board said Friday morning that its team was on its way to examine the wreckage near the airport in McMinnville, about an hour’s drive southwest of Portland. The town lies in the broad, flat Willamette Valley near the foothills of the Coast Range, in the heart of Oregon’s wine country.
The crash happened around 2 p.m. Thursday on a cloudy day. Law enforcement photos showed a crumpled red helicopter laying in a farm field, while a green helicopter came to rest upside down.
Leo Rodriguez was working on a nearby barn roof at his family’s winery when the helicopters collided.
“There was an explosion mid-air,” he told KPTV. “I bent over to do something and then, boom, and I look up and the planes were already going down.”
Rodriguez said the tail end of the larger helicopter was struck, then it turned and began going toward the ground. He said the other helicopter fell straight down.
“It just happened so fast,” he said.
Few details are immediately available about why the smaller Robinson R22 helicopter collided with the Airbus AS350B3 helicopter that the NTSB said was on a maintenance flight that is typically done after maintenance or repair. The Robinson was on an instructional flight.
The victims included 38-year-old Tyler Sturdevant, a pilot from Oregon, 22-year-old Maddie Aasbo, a flight instructor from Texas, and a 31-year-old student pilot from the United Kingdom, whose name has not been released, Yamhill County Sheriff Sam Elliott said during a news conference. Aasbo and the British student pilot were on the Robinson helicopter, while Sturdevant was on the Airbus.
The owners of the two helicopters — Jerry Trimble Helicopters and Precision — both said they are cooperating with authorities on the investigation while trying to help the grieving families of the victims.
Precision, a helicopter charter and maintenance company that also helps fly drone missions for the military, said in a post on Instagram that Sturdevant was their “beloved” senior pilot.
“Tyler has touched countless lives, not only through his love of flying, but through the many pilots he mentored, encouraged, and helped along the way,” Precision posted. “His legacy lives on in every pilot he helped bring up and every life he made a difference in.”
His LinkedIn page says he worked as a pilot examiner for the Federal Aviation Administration for the past four years while continuing to work at Precision for more than 20 years.
The Jerry Trimble school offers everything from demo flights for first-time flyers to advanced training.
Associated Press writers Jamie Stengle in Dallas and Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed.
This photo released by the Yamhill County Sheriff's Office shows a damaged helicopter after two helicopters collided and crashed into a farm field in Yamhill County, Ore. Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. (Yamhill County Sheriff's Office via AP)
This photo released by the Yamhill County Sheriff's Office shows a damaged helicopter after two helicopters collided and crashed into a farm field in Yamhill County, Ore., Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026. (Yamhill County Sheriff's Office via AP)
