The move positions Arkansas as a test of how involved Trump, who publicly encouraged Sanders to run for governor, will be in his post-presidency in clashes over the Republican Party, as aides, allies and family members try his legacy.
The Arkansas race for governor will also determine how attractive Republican primary voters find personal connections with Trump and his presidency – especially in a field with other well-known conservative candidates who also sided with the former president.
The contest already features two nationwide officials who strongly support Trump in Lieutenant Government Tim Griffin, a former congressman who was at one stage considered but handed over to the secretary of the military post in Trump’s government, and Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, a Conservative who sided with Trump in court battles, including a lawsuit disputing the 2020 election results.
Sanders also has deep personal ties in Arkansas: Her father Mike Huckabee spent more than a decade as governor before beginning his failed 2008 and 2016 presidential bid.
Griffin welcomes Sanders to the race by finding space on her right, pointing out that her announcement video called for something Arkansas has already done to defend sanctuary cities, pointing out that her proposal to lower the state’s income tax due to his call to eliminate it. entirely.
“I think there’s a lot to talk about other than personalities, and I’m going to talk about it. I’m going to talk a lot about ideas and content. And at the end of the day, that’s what makes the difference in Arkansans’ lives,” Griffin said. Said in an interview Monday.
She announced her candidacy in a video posted on Twitter Monday morning. “With the radical left now at the helm of Washington, your governor is your last line of defense. In reality, your governor must be at the forefront,” she said.
Griffin, a former George W. Bush White House staffer, said he would “not be surprised” if Trump fights Sanders. But he underestimated the importance of their personal commitment, saying that his own record – including time opposed by former President Barack Obama and then-Vice President Joe Biden’s policies in Congress, as well as the implementation of Trump – backed policies in Arkansas – better meet. the current political moment.
“I supported Trump and Trump’s policies; she did too. Great. She worked for him – that’s great. I worked for President Bush at the White House. I have a history around the Obama-Biden agenda. to fight when I was in Congress, so that’s going to be very relevant now, ‘Griffin said.
“For me, it’s just a clear choice of who is ready to lead Arkansas on the first day,” he said. “And I think you can look at it in 100 different ways. I’m ready for day one anyway. And no one else is.”
Neither Griffin nor Rutledge criticized Trump or Sanders’ commitment to the former president. In a statement, Rutledge expressed her support for Trump’s “de-regulatory agenda at every level” and said Sanders and her family had been friends for years. She said Arkansas needed a leader with a proven track record of accomplishments against the liberal left. Sanders’ campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
That the Republican gubernatorial election in Arkansas contains three sensational candidates jumping to the right underscores how much the state has changed since Bill Clinton was governor; until a decade ago, there were two democratic senators in the state.
Skip Rutherford, a longtime Clinton assistant and dean of the University of Arkansas, Clinton School of Public Service, said it would lead to a ‘bloody’ primary veterans of GOP politics in Arkansas against each other.
“This one is going to be mainstay-and-take-names,” he said. “In the past, my friends on the Republican side have had the luxury of having one candidate to support. As I said to someone the other day, welcome to grow, welcome to choose side.”
CNN’s Dan Merica contributed to this report.