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Endorses Bronni
The race
Arkansas Supreme Court, Position 3, was decided in the nonpartisan judicial election of March 3, 2026: Nicholas Bronni defeated John Adams, 54.7% to 45.3% (217,332 to 179,940). One roster correction to our inventory: the seat-swap mechanics confused early listings — Arkansas law bars an appointed justice from running for the seat he was appointed to, so Bronni and Justice Cody Hiland ran for each other's positions; official county ballots and the certified results put Bronni v. Adams at Position 3. Party labels do not appear on the Arkansas ballot; alignment below is inferred from appointing authority, prior offices, and endorsements, and we disclose that basis.
Nicholas Bronni — Incumbent justice. Appointed by Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders in December 2024. Before the bench: appellate associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher; senior litigation counsel at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; then Arkansas Solicitor General from July 2018 — the state's chief appellate advocate under Attorneys General Leslie Rutledge and Tim Griffin — until his appointment. He is a self-described conservative and originalist, and the Republican Party of Arkansas formally endorsed him.
John Adams — Challenger. Little Rock attorney in private practice and business; assistant attorney general (criminal division) 2009–2011 under Democratic AG Dustin McDaniel; adjunct professor at the Bowen School of Law. He previously ran as a Democrat for Congress (2010, lost the primary) and for the state House (2014, lost the general). In 2023 he represented the Central Arkansas Library System in its successful federal challenge to parts of Act 372, the law criminalizing "providing harmful materials" to minors — parts were held unconstitutional. He campaigned on the court as honest broker on ballot-initiative language, citing its LEARNS Act and marijuana-initiative rulings.
Pros and cons
Bronni: Credits: An elite appellate résumé — solicitor general is the closest job in Arkansas government to the one he now holds; an originalist philosophy stated on the record; the state GOP's formal endorsement. Dirt/limits: The seat-swap that let two appointees run despite the constitutional bar on succeeding themselves drew documented criticism as circumventing the provision's spirit — legal, and disclosed here; his bench record at decision time was barely a year long. Adams: Credits: Service as an assistant AG, teaching, and a real federal civil-liberties litigation win. Dirt/limits: A repeated Democratic candidate whose signature case was against a Republican-passed law protecting minors — under our doctrine that is the progressive judicial project running in a nonpartisan race, and no restrained bench record exists to rebut the inference, since he has never served as a judge.
OUR CALL
Our call: endorse Nicholas Bronni. Inference basis disclosed: Sanders appointee, solicitor general under two Republican attorneys general, self-described originalist, state GOP-endorsed — against a Democratic activist-attorney whose marquee work opposed a child-protection law. Voters agreed: Bronni won the March 3 election and holds the seat for an eight-year term.
Vote Nicholas Bronni.
For the complete Election 2026 breakdown — every race, claim by claim — see the full coverage on our website. Vote early. Research your candidates. Choose the best moderates, whatever their party — no extremism from either side. And encourage your friends and family to do the same. --- Sources — 2026 Arkansas Supreme Court election — results, endorsements, candidate histories — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Arkansas_Supreme_Court_election • Benton County — official certified judicial candidate list, March 3, 2026 — https://bentoncountyar.gov/vote/wp-content/documents/sites/37/2026/01/Judicial-Certified-List-Primary.pdf • Critical Report — Arkansas Supreme Court elections (Bronni and Hiland careers) — https://criticalreport.substack.com/p/2026-ar-supreme-court-elections • Talk Business & Politics — candidate filing closes (Adams's prior Democratic runs) — https://talkbusiness.net/2025/11/candidate-filing-period-closes/ • AFJ Action — State of Justice, January 2026 (seat-swap mechanics and criticism) — https://afjactioncampaign.org/blog/state-of-justice-january-2026-vacancies-and-elections-updates/ AI-assisted article — but the sources are human, and the facts are very real.