Sterling R. Cockrill

Sterling Robertson Cockrill Jr. (April 7, 1925 – March 23, 2022) was an American politician, civic leader and artist in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Background Cockrill was a descendant of the 19th century U.S. Senator Chester Ashley,

Cockrill served in the United States Navy during the closing days of World War II and in the Korean War. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and joined the insurance agency owned by his father in Little Rock. Cockrill and his wife, the former Adrienne Storey, had two daughters. In the spring of 1970, however, Cockrill switched affiliation to the Republican Party to run for lieutenant governor on the GOP ticket headed by the two-term Rockefeller, who sought a third-term in office. He explained his party bolt in the pamphlet entitled "The Conscience of an Arkansan". Cockrill criticized the Democratic loyalty oath and accused the Democrats of being willing to "do anything, say anything, tell anything, create anything in order to win." Cockrill won the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor with 88 percent of the vote over the politically unknown Gerald Williams of North Little Rock. Cockrill replaced Lieutenant Governor Maurice Britt on the Republican ticket, who instead served as the Rockefeller campaign manager.

Riley attributed his victory to the Democratic "team effort" and accused Cockrill of having engaged in "mudslinging, character assassination, and hate emotions". Riley accused Cockrill supporters of having circulated "vicious statements about me" in African-American neighborhoods. Riley said that he still considered Cockrill a "friend" and hoped that the tactics he found so distasteful had been the work of GOP activists acting without Cockrill's knowledge.

After the 1970 campaign, Cockrill did not again seek public office. From 1971 to 1978, he worked as an urban planner in the Little Rock office of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. Cockrill was subsequently the executive director of several organizations dedicated to the revitalization of downtown Little Rock, such as Little Rock Unlimited Progress and the Metrocentre Improvement District.

Cockrill died on March 23, 2022, at the age of 96.