Incumbent Democratic Governor Orval Faubus won election to a third term, defeating Republican nominee George W. Johnson with 82.47% of the vote.

Faubus surged in popularity after denying the Little Rock Nine entrance to Central High School with the use of the Arkansas National Guard on September 4, 1957.

By winning over 50% of the vote, Faubus and Johnson avoided run-offs which would have been held on August 12, 1958.

It was not until 1995 that the legislature, facing a lawsuit from the Republicans, passed a bill for the state to pay the cost of the primaries, which was signed by Democratic Governor Jim Guy Tucker.

George W. Johnson, an attorney in Greenwood, Sebastian County, deliberately abandoned the race in September 1958.