Gilbert R. Baker (born September 5, 1956) is an American politician and member of the Republican Party who represented District 30 in the

Arkansas State Senate The Arkansas State Senate is the upper branch of the Arkansas General Assembly. The Senate consists of 35 members, each representing a district with about 83,000 people. Service in the state legislature is part-time, and many state senators have ...

for District 30 from 2001 to 2013.

Biography

A native of Monahans in

West Texas West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the desert climate, arid and semiarid climate, semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Texas, Wichita Falls, Abilene, Texa ...

, Baker holds a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA). Background ...

from

Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public university, public research university in Ruston, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and Carnegie Classification of Institu ...

in Ruston,

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

and a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

from the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

Tucson Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

Arkansas State Senator

Baker ranked third in Arkansas State Senate seniority in his final term, and served as co-chair of the Joint Budget Committee and vice chairman of the State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee. He also served on the Arkansas Legislative Council, the Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee, Legislative Facilities, Children and Youth Committee, Senate Efficiency, and Academic Facilities Oversight Committee. From 1997 to 1999, he was the Republican chairman for

Faulkner County Faulkner County is a county located in the Central Arkansas region of the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 123,498, making it the fifth most populous of Arkansas's 75 counties. The county seat and largest city ...

Term-limited A term limit is a legal restriction on the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potential for monopoly, whe ...

in 2012, he left the Senate to become the executive assistant to the president at the

University of Central Arkansas The University of Central Arkansas (Central Arkansas or UCA) is a public university in Conway, Arkansas, United States. Founded in 1907, the university is one of the oldest in the state. As the state's only normal school at the time, UCA has hist ...

Conway Conway may refer to: Places United States * Conway, Arkansas * Conway County, Arkansas * Lake Conway, Arkansas * Conway, Florida * Conway, Iowa * Conway, Kansas * Conway, Louisiana * Conway, Massachusetts * Conway, Michigan * Conway Townshi ...

, where he resides.

Candidacy for United States Senate

In September 2009, Baker announced his intentions to run for the U.S. Senate. He joined a crowded GOP field. Polls showed discontent with Lincoln's Senate performance and voting record. A poll taken November 5, 2009, showed Lincoln with a 43 percent job-approval rating, nearly 9 points down from her 2008 approval rating. After announcing for the U.S. Senate, Baker was endorsed by twenty-three members of the State House and Senate. On December 5, 2009, Baker won a

straw poll A straw poll, straw vote, or straw ballot is an ad hoc or unofficial voting, vote. It is used to show the popular opinion on a certain matter, and can be used to help politicians know the majority opinion and help them decide what to say in order ...

Hot Springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring produced by the emergence of Geothermal activity, geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow ...

with 35 percent of the vote in a field of seven. He was considered to have been the front-runner until

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

John Boozman John Nichols Boozman ( ; born December 10, 1950) is an American politician and former optometrist serving as the senior United States senator from Arkansas, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U.S. repre ...

entered the race and won the nomination and subsequently the general election, Baker finished in third in the primary behind Boozman and former State Senator Jim Holt, a Baptist minister from Springdale.

Indictment by Federal Grand Jury

On January 11, 2019, Baker was indicted on counts of conspiracy, bribery and wire fraud. The indictment is related to a bribery scheme involving former Faulkner County Circuit Judge Mike Maggio. In a trial in August 2021, the jury found Baker not guilty of conspiracy to commit bribery but deadlocked on remaining bribery and honest service wire fraud. A retrial on the remaining charges was set for May 2022. However, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas declined to refile the charges.

References

External links

Baker for SenateArkansas State Senate
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Gilbert 1956 births Living people Republican Party Arkansas state senators Politicians from Conway, Arkansas People from Monahans, Texas Louisiana Tech University alumni University of Arizona alumni University of Central Arkansas faculty Arkansas Republican state chairmen 21st-century members of the Arkansas General Assembly