LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – One of the first races declared nationwide on Tuesday, Republican Sarah Huckabee Sander has been declared the winner in the race for Arkansas governor by the Associated Press.
Huckabee Sanders will set several first-time historical precedents when she takes office in January. She will be the first female governor of Arkansas and the first child of a former governor to assume the seat.
This also marks the first time Arkansas has elected back-to-back Republican governors since Reconstruction.
Her father, Gov. Mike Huckabee, held office from 1996 to 2007.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – On Tuesday, one of the most-watched races in the state is the history-making race for Arkansas governor.
The race pits Republican Sarah Huckabee Sanders against Democrat Chris Jones and Libertarian Ricky Dale Harrington Jr.
If Huckabee Sanders wins she will be the state’s first female governor. If Harrington or Jones win, they would be the state’s first Black governor.
None of the candidates has ever held public office.
Polling from Talk Business & Politics and Hendrix College coming into the election cycle shows Huckabee Sanders over Jones by 51 to 41%, with Harrington at a distant 3%.
Current Gov. Asa Hutchinson is term-limited out of office at the end of this term.
Huckabee Sanders has been a strong candidate since entering the race last year, in no small part due to the name recognition from her father, former Gov. Mike Huckabee, and her two-year turn as President Donald Trump’s press secretary.
Jones has seen steady support for his campaign, which has focused on his traveling throughout the state and his diverse background, which includes being a minister, nuclear engineer, MIT graduate and former executive director of the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub.
Harrington, a Harding grad with a background in ministry who had once grabbed 33% of the vote running against Sen. Tom Cotton in 2020, is a decided long shot having polled in the single digits throughout the fall.
