A very good account, and does point the important role that NW Arkansas played in the building of a GOP in Arkansas. This had its roots, I believe, in the migration of a sizable number of Union Army veterans into the farming country on the Ozark Plateau. While their numbers were never enough to gain political power, they did make the region much different than the eastern Delta region. The growth of Eureka Springs also contributed to a GOP kernal.
One would think that with this history, the change would have happened much sooner at the state level.
In 1951, Pratt Remmel made the breakthrough in becoming Little Rock’s 1st GOP Mayor (at least since Reconstruction). He was thought promising enough (especially after Ike’s performance in 1952) that he ran for Governor in 1954 (following the ugly Dem primary that saw Orval Faubus upset freshman incumbent Governor Frank Cherry). While he didn’t win, he got a whopping 37%, which portended that the GOP had a future there.
Not mentioned in the article was a bit about Winthrop Rockefeller. Although he succeeded Faubus’ 12 year reign as Governor, he didn’t exactly represent the Conservative wave of the future. In many ways, he actually aided the Democrat party’s break with Faubus (and Fulbright, for that matter) for the next generation of their politicians (Dave Pryor, Dale Bumpers) so they could “embrace” more of the national party on Civil Rights and other liberal positions. Of course, he failed to win a 3rd 2-year term in 1970 to the aforementioned Bumpers. Had he lived longer (he died in 1973), it would’ve been curious to see if Winthrop would’ve embraced more of a move to the right or if he would’ve pushed leftward (which would’ve kept the Democrats in the perpetual majority, as we’ve seen in states with a left-wing GOP, such as Massachusetts).
His son, Win Paul, decided to stay with the center-right and got the Lt Governorship in 1996. Sadly, just as he was gearing up to succeed Huckabee he died at 57 (younger even than his dad who was just 60). Of course, with so many more players on the field, the future of the AR GOP won’t be the exclusive province of just a few families (as it should be).