With polls showing the 2026 Arkansas governor's race tightening, this is a good time to review the 1980 race for governor. Gov. Sarah Sanders' first term has a lot in common with then-Gov. Bill Clinton's first term. Even though Sanders is a Republican and Clinton is a Democrat, the mistakes they made are much the same.

Both Clinton and Sanders were the youngest governors in the country when first elected--Clinton in November 1978 and Sanders in November 2022. Both had national political ambitions. Many Arkansas voters viewed Clinton as arrogant and more interested in Washington politics than Arkansas issues. Current voters view Sanders the same way.

Sanders and Clinton surrounded themselves in their first terms with young aides who viewed the jobs as their path to Washington rather than a way to improve Arkansas. Both governors alienated legislators from their own parties. Average Arkansans didn't feel like they could relate to either governor in the way they had related to the governors who came before them: David Pryor, Dale Bumpers, Winthrop Rockefeller (beloved by many despite being a New York native).

Clinton should have known that it was time to change his ways when a turkey farmer received 31 percent of the vote against him. That farmer was Monroe Schwarzlose.

Schwarzlose was born in 1902 in Seguin, Texas. The area was heavily populated with descendants of German families who had settled the Hill Country of Texas in the 1840s.

"Like many families in the region, the Schwarzloses made their living as family farmers and cattlemen," writes Arkansas historian Revis Edmonds. "Schwarzlose became a cattleman in his young adult years, raising and selling beef in Texas, California and Oregon until he was inducted into the U.S. Army in World War II. He also rode the rodeo circuit for a time.

"After being wounded overseas during his Army service, Schwarzlose was shipped back to Camp Robinson. He stayed in Arkansas after his discharge in 1945, moving briefly to Conway and finally settling at Kingsland in Cleveland County, where he raised turkeys and beef cattle. He made an early foray into politics in 1974 as a Republican for an Arkansas House of Representatives seat but was defeated by longtime........

© Arkansas Online