Bob Ballinger (born January 31, 1974) is an American attorney and politician. He served in the Arkansas General Assembly from 2013 to 2023.

Early life and education

Ballinger was born in

Bremerton, Washington Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington. The population was 37,729 at the 2010 census and an estimated 41,405 in 2019, making it the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerto ...

and raised in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in social studies from

Northeastern State University Northeastern State University (NSU) is a public university with its main campus in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The university also has two other campuses in Muskogee and Broken Arrow as well as online. Northeastern is the oldest institution of hig ...

in 1998 and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

from

University of Arkansas School of Law The University of Arkansas School of Law is the law school of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas, a State university system, state university. It has around 445 students enrolled in its Juris Doctor (J.D.) and Master of Law (LL.M) ...

in 2005.

Career

From 1999 to 2002, Ballinger worked as a teacher and coach for the Sapulpa Public Schools in

Sapulpa, Oklahoma Sapulpa is a city in Creek County, Oklahoma, Creek and Tulsa County, Oklahoma, Tulsa counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 20,544 at the 2010 United States census, compared to 19,166 at the 2000 United States Census, 2000 cens ...

. Since 2006, he has operated an independent legal practice. He served as a member of the

Arkansas House of Representatives The Arkansas State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Arkansas General Assembly, the state legislature of the US state of Arkansas. The House is composed of 100 members elected from an equal amount of constituencies across the s ...

from 2013 to 2019. He was then elected to the Arkansas Senate. During the 2017 legislative session, Ballinger served as chair of the House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee. He serves as co-chair of the Senate Joint Energy Committee. In 2017, Ballinger drafted a proposal that would make it a crime for people to knowingly expose their sex organs to someone of the opposite sex in a public place under circumstances likely to cause alarm. The proposal was criticized as a plan to prevent transgender people to use bathrooms corresponding with their gender identity. Ballinger stood for re-election in 2022 for the Arkansas Senate 28th district, which had recently been renumbered due to redistricting. He was challenged in the May 24, 2022 Republican primary by Bryan King, who he had primaried in 2019, Keith Slape, Bob Largent, and Theodore (Ted) Walker. With any candidate failing to win over 50%, a runoff election was set between the top two vote recipients, Ballinger and King. In what was described as the "highest-profile state Senate runoff", King defeated Ballinger 3,604 to 2,917.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ballinger, Bob Living people Arkansas lawyers Northeastern State University alumni University of Arkansas School of Law alumni People from Ozark, Arkansas Republican Party members of the Arkansas House of Representatives Republican Party Arkansas state senators 1974 births People from Bremerton, Washington People from Tulsa, Oklahoma