Biography
Michael Pakko is the Libertarian nominee for Arkansas Secretary of State, an economist who has chaired the Libertarian Party of Arkansas for ten years and ran for State Treasurer in 2024. He proposes election reforms to increase competition, including opening ballot access and considering ranked-choice voting.[1][3]
Pakko was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and earned a bachelor's degree from Michigan State University in 1984 and a Ph.D. from the University of Rochester.[2][3] He spent 16 years as a research economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis before moving to Arkansas in 2009.[3] He is chief economist and state economic forecaster at the Arkansas Economic Development Institute at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, according to his campaign website.[3]
Pakko has been chair of the Libertarian Party of Arkansas since 2015.[2][3] During his tenure the party successfully petitioned to become a new political party in Arkansas seven times, and he was lead plaintiff in two federal lawsuits to retain the party's ability to do so.[3]
- 1.Arkansas Secretary of State election, 2026 — Candidate Connection survey · Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey · 2026-10-19 Candidate's own words
- 2.Michael Pakko - Ballotpedia · Ballotpedia · 2026-10-21 Reference
- 3.About Dr. Pakko · Pakko for Arkansas Secretary of State · 2026-10-21 Candidate's own words
Researched from the cited sources on 2026-10-21.
