Ricky Harrington Jr

Ricky Harrington Jr. is a Libertarian politician, current candidate in the 2022 Arkansas gubernatorial election and former candidate the 2020 United States Senate election in Arkansas. A Pine Bluff pastor, Harrington has served as a missionary in Scotland, China and elsewhere, and as a chaplain and treatment coordinator at the Arkansas Department of Corrections’ Cummins Unit.
Personal life
He was born in Marshall, Texas. His father, Ricky Dale Harrington Sr., was a corrections officer, and his mother was a nurse.
He attended Jefferson High School and then pursued higher education at Kilgore College, Sunset International Bible Institute, and Harding University for his undergraduate education. He earned a bachelor's degree from Harding University in May 2012. His professional experience includes working in the oil and gas industry and in food service, as a crisis prevention technician at a psychiatric hospital, as a missionary, and in a correctional system
Ricky resides in Pine Bluff. His wife, Chujie, is active duty US Navy. Together they have three children, two of whom are autistic.
Political career
Harrington ran for U.S. Senate in 2020 against incumbent U.S. Senator Tom Cotton. In public comments leading up to the 2020 election, Harrington spoke about excessive partisanship in the election process itself and in Senate operations, such as the contentious nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. Cotton declined to attend a debate hosted by Arkansas PBS, leaving Harrington as the sole participant. Harrington spent the debate responding to questions put to him by a panel of journalists. He was endorsed by Justin Amash, Jo Jorgensen, and Spike Cohen.
Though he lost the election, Harrington's 33.5% finish is the best ever for a Libertarian candidate in a U.S. Senate election by vote percentage, surpassing the previous record set four years prior in Alaska, and also by total number of votes (399,390, surpassing the previous record of 369,807 set by Michael Cloud in Massachusetts in 2002). Per exit polls, this largely appears to be due to many Democrats deciding to pick Harrington as there was no Democratic candidate on the ballot (82% of Democratic voters backed Harrington). Harrington won three counties, all of which were also won by Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
Harrington is running for governor in the 2022 Arkansas gubernatorial election.

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