Editing Newton County, Arkansas (section)

===Politics===
Along with adjacent Searcy County, Newton is unique among Arkansas counties in being traditionally [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] in political leanings even during the overwhelmingly Democratic "[[Solid South]]" era. This Republicanism resulted from their historical paucity of [[slavery in the United States|slaves]], in turn created by infertile soils unsuitable for intensive cotton farming, and produced support for [[Union (American Civil War)|the Union]] during the Civil War.{{citation needed|date=August 2018}} These were the only two counties in Arkansas to be won by [[Alf Landon]] in 1936,<ref>[http://geoelections.free.fr/USA/elec_comtes/1936.htm Geographie Electorale]</ref> [[Wendell Willkie]] in 1940, [[Charles Evans Hughes]] in 1916, and even [[Calvin Coolidge]] in 1924. Since the Civil War the only Democrats to gain an absolute majority of Newton County's vote have been [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] in 1932 and [[Jimmy Carter]] in 1976.<ref>Menendez, Albert J.; ''The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States'', 1868-2004, pp. 149-153 {{ISBN|0786422173}}</ref> In [[2008 United States presidential election|2008]], the [[Party for Socialism and Liberation|Socialism and Liberation]] candidate, [[Gloria La Riva]], had the notable achievement of winning the precinct of Murray, ahead of major party candidates [[Barack Obama]] and [[John McCain]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ark.org/arelections/index.php?ac:show:trackit=1&add=1&elecid=181&contestid=6&countyid=51&pollid=15|title = Arkansas Secretary of State}}</ref> The Republican nominee has received over sixty percent in all Presidential elections from 2000 to 2020 inclusive.<ref>[http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/results/president/map.html?scp=1&sq=%22election%20map&st=cse The New York Times electoral map (Zoom in on Arkansas)]</ref> In 2016, Newton County voted over 76 percent for [[Donald Trump]], while [[Hillary Clinton]] received just 18 percent.

The county is in [[Arkansas's 1st congressional district]], which from [[Reconstruction Era|Reconstruction]] until 2010 sent only Democrats to the U.S. House. That year, it elected Republican [[Rick Crawford (politician)|Rick Crawford]], who currently holds the seat as to date. In the [[Arkansas House of Representatives]] Newton County is represented by Steven Walker.
The state senator, [[Missy Irvin|Missy Thomas Irvin]], is also a Republican.
{{PresHead|place=Newton County, Arkansas|source=<ref name="DL">{{cite web|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/|access-date=November 18, 2016}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Republican|3,063|644|63|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|2020|Republican|3,192|709|97|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|2016|Republican|2,875|699|179|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|2012|Republican|2,508|993|160|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|2008|Republican|2,588|1,182|190|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|2004|Republican|2,779|1,506|93|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|2000|Republican|2,529|1,205|193|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1996|Republican|1,927|1,631|596|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1992|Democratic|1,730|1,765|649|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1988|Republican|2,504|1,489|46|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1984|Republican|2,749|1,414|10|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1980|Republican|2,423|1,436|174|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1976|Democratic|1,611|1,840|0|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|1,924|831|0|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1968|Republican|1,467|852|567|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1964|Democratic|1,357|1,374|38|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1960|Republican|1,814|844|29|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1956|Republican|1,481|832|3|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1952|Republican|1,728|1,107|3|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1948|Republican|879|848|21|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1944|Republican|934|710|6|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1940|Republican|1,392|1,202|24|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1936|Republican|1,053|938|0|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|540|941|29|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1928|Republican|1,316|533|8|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1924|Republican|578|298|68|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1920|Republican|828|486|60|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1916|Republican|675|550|0|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1912|Democratic|285|290|247|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1908|Republican|582|377|40|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1904|Republican|645|280|17|Arkansas}}
{{PresRow|1900|Republican|690|443|3|Arkansas}}
{{PresFoot|1896|Republican|733|659|12|Arkansas}}