Rick Crawford
Rick Crawford, a Republican who has represented Arkansas's 1st congressional district since 2011 and chairs the House Intelligence Committee, faces Democrat Terri Yarbrough Green, a retired pathologist, in the 2026 election.
2026 Races & Market Forecast
Live TruthIndex™ and prediction market consensus for races contested by Rick Crawford.
- Born
- January 22, 1966
- Birthplace
- Homestead Air Force Base, Florida
- Education
- Alvirne High School
Arkansas State University (Bachelor of Science in agriculture business and economics, 1996)
Biography & Campaign Analysis
Background
Rick Crawford, whose full name is Eric Alan Crawford, was born on January 22, 1966, at Homestead Air Force Base in Florida, the son of Ruth Anne and Donnie J. "Don" Crawford.
He grew up in a military family, as his father served in the U.S. Air Force, and graduated from Alvirne High School in Hudson, New Hampshire.
Crawford enlisted in the U.S. Army and served for four years as an explosive ordnance disposal technician with the 56th Ordnance Detachment at Fort Indiantown Gap in Pennsylvania, leaving with the rank of sergeant.
He then attended Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, graduating in 1996 with a Bachelor of Science in agriculture business and economics.
Career
Before entering politics, Rick Crawford worked as a rodeo cowboy, and after a serious rodeo injury in 1993 he moved into radio announcing for the rodeo and released the album Crackin' Out in 1994. He was a news anchor and agri-reporter on KAIT-TV in Jonesboro and farm director on KFIN-FM, and he owned and operated the AgWatch Network, a farm news network heard on 39 radio stations in Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi and Kentucky.
Crawford ran for the 1st district in 2010 after U.S. representative Marion Berry decided to retire, defeating Princella Smith in the Republican primary, 72% to 28%, and Berry's chief of staff Chad Causey in the general election, 52% to 43%.
He was sworn in on January 5, 2011, as the first Republican to represent the district since Reconstruction, and he has been reelected at every election since, most recently defeating Democrat Rodney Govens 73% to 24% in 2024.
In 2025 he was elected chairman of the House Intelligence Committee for the 119th Congress, and he also sits on the Committee on Agriculture and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
2026 race
Arkansas's 1st congressional district is based in northeastern Arkansas and parts of the southeast, with most of its population in Jonesboro, and Rick Crawford is the Republican incumbent seeking reelection after winning 72.9% of the vote in 2024. He was unopposed in the Republican primary.
His Democratic opponent is Terri Yarbrough Green, a retired pathologist, and Libertarian Steve Parsons, the party's nominee for the district in 2024, is also a candidate in the general election. Voters choose among them on November 3, 2026.