Sarah Huckabee Sanders is running for Governor of Arkansas. Born in Hope, Arkansas, Sarah grew up as the youngest child of former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and Janet McCain Huckabee. She is no stranger to politics, having grown up in the thick of it with a very famous father. She got involved with her father’s failed US Senate race in 1992 when she was only 10 years old. It wasn’t long after graduating college that she became a field coordinator for her father’s reelection campaign as the Governor of Arkansas. She then became a congressional affairs regional liaison for the United States Department of Education under President Bush. She had extensive work in Republican politics, especially being a founding partner of a consulting group, Second Street Strategies in Little Rock.

In 2016, Sarah became a senior advisor to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign where she handled communications. When President Trump took office, Sanders became Deputy White House Press Secretary. In July 2017, she took over the podium after Sean Spicer announced his resignation. 

After she left the White House, Sanders became a Fox News contributor and the speculation of her announcement of running for Governor was expected in the summer of 2019 but it didn’t happen…until January 25, 2021. 

Sanders posted a nearly 8 minute long video announcing her run with the words “I’m in.” The video shows highlights of her career and speaks to the public saying: “With the radical left now in charge of Washington, your governor is your last line of defense. In fact, your governor must be on the front line.” She later states “We’ve seen violence in our streets, at congressional baseball practice, and at our Capitol. This is not who we are as Americans. To remain free, we must have law and order.”

She enters the primary facing two other Republicans: Lieutenant Governor Tim Griffin and state Attorney General Leslie Rutledge. 

If Sanders wins the primary and wins the general, she will be the first female Governor of Arkansas. 

Caroline C.
FFL Cabinet Member
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