Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Congressman Ross! Sen. Mike Ross Wins Congressional Seat

It took a while, but when all was said and done Mike Ross unseated Congressman Jay Dickey.

In fact, the outcome of the Fourth Congressional District race wasn't known until around 4:45 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 8. With 100 percent of the precincts in and counted, the final tally showed Ross with 107,895 votes, while Dickey received 104,117 ballots in his favor.

This race had been one of the most watched ever in Arkansas. Ross' win kept Dickey from a fifth term in office.

With the victory now secured, Ross is currently in Washington, D.C., going through orientation for incoming members of Congress.

"To those who supported Dickey," he said, "I respect them and I'm going to work my heart out for them."

Dickey, though, wasn't as gracious in losing, as he said the district will be sending someone to Washington who'll be in the minority party and who isn't on any committee and will have no leverage.

But, the Ross win makes it the first time since 1996 the state's congressional delegation isn't split evenly based on political party. Now, three of Arkansas' four congressmen are Democrats.

The Fourth District, the largest in the state with 26 counties, is normally a Democratic section of the state, but sent Dickey to Washington four times.

"We never really got to give a speech about our win because of the way the results came in," Ross said. The final boxes from Garland County were the ones holding up the final count.

Ross, along with members of his campaign staff went to Pine Bluff Wednesday to hold a "thank you" sign up during rush hour. This was because Jefferson County, Dickey's home county, went solidly with Ross in the election.

In fact, Ross took Jefferson County by 4,200 votes. The count was 15,457-11,290.

Ross also did well among the black voters in the district, especially in Wabaseka in Jefferson County, where he beat Dickey 143-53.

Earlier in the year, Dickey had told a group of black farmers in Eastern Arkansas he wouldn't help them because they never supported him.

Overall, Ross won 18 of the 28 counties. Dickey won Cleveland, Columbia, Drew, Grant, Montgomery, Pike and Garland counties.