State profile: Arkansas

Arkansas twice voted for former governor Bill Clinton in presidential elections in the 1990s, but backed George W Bush in 2000 and 2004.

Had Hillary Clinton been on the ballot paper in 2008, it could have been enough to tip Arkansas back into the Democratic column.

But with Barack Obama instead of Mrs Clinton as their nominee, a win for the Democrats in Arkansas now looks much less likely - this despite hopeful signs for the party in recent state-wide elections, including the gain of a Senate seat in 2002 and the state governorship in 2006.

KEY FACTS

Population: 2,810,872 (ranked 32 among states)

Governor: Mike Beebe (D)

Electoral College votes: 6

Demographic changes appear to be pulling the state in different political directions. Rural Democrat strongholds across the state are growing and urbanising, but Republicans are also gaining strength in the rapidly spreading suburbs in Faulkner, Saline and Pulaski counties.

IN CONGRESS

House of Representatives:
3 Democrat, 1 Republican

Senate: 2 Democrat

Like much of the US, Arkansas has a wide gulf between its richest and poorest residents, giving it an unpredictable political identity.

Arkansas-born notables include the Little Rock bankers Jack and Witt Stephens and the Wal-Mart shopping tycoon Sam Walton.

VOTING RECORD

2004: Bush 54%, Kerry 45%

2000: Bush 51%, Gore 46%

1996: Clinton 54%, Dole 37%

Wal-Mart is still based there, which means that an extraordinary proportion of national wealth is based within a few square miles of Little Rock.

But Arkansas is also home to one of the nation's poorest districts, which stretches across the state's north-eastern third from the Mississippi Delta to the Ozark Mountains.

Are you in Arkansas? Will you be voting in 2008? How do you plan to vote? Send us your comments and predictions using the form below.