Arkansas Is a Suppressed Blue State

The state’s recent legislative session shows how deeply Republicans fear Black voters will once again turn Arkansas blue

Voters arrive to be checked in at McGee Community Center in Conway, Arkansas, 2016. Photo: Michael B. Thomas/AFP/Getty Images

Once upon a time, the Arkansas state government was a solid blue oasis in the South. In 2006, Democrat Mike Beebe ran the state as governor while his party swept both chambers of the statehouse, as they…