John Thurston (politician)

John Manuel Thurston (born December 27, 1972) is an American politician who is the current Secretary of State of Arkansas; he was elected in November 2018, and won re-election in 2022. In August 2023, Thurston announced that he would run in a special election for state treasurer in 2024.

He previously was Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands. A Republican, he was first elected to that position in November 2010, took office in January 2011, and was reelected in November 2014 to a second term.

Early life
Thurston graduated in 1991 from Sheridan High School in Grant County in southern Arkansas. He then attended Agape College in the capital city of Little Rock. He is a former licensed Christian minister and a Certified Religious Assistant in the Arkansas state prison system. He worked 13 years for Agape Church in Little Rock before entering politics.

Lands Commissioner
Thurston is the first Republican to be elected as Land Commissioner since the office became elective in 1874. In 2014, Thurston was elected as the president of the Western States Land Commissioners Association; the organization's winter conference was held in Little Rock that year.

Arkansas Secretary of State
Limited to two terms as state lands commissioner, Thurston announced in June 2016 he would run in 2018 for election as Arkansas secretary of state. As important issues, he cited election security, physical security, political accessibility, and redistricting of legislative boundaries. Thurston faced Trevor Drown in the Republican primary election, and was chosen as the Republican nominee. Running against former Director of Elections, Susan Inman, as the Democratic nominee, Thurston won election on November 6, 2018, as the next Arkansas Secretary of State. Thurston won re-election on November 6, 2022.