In Arkansas, a solidly red state where pro-life and pro-gun values reign, the Republican primary candidates compete based on how conservative they are or how supportive they are of former President Donald Trump.
Sarah Sanders, a former White House press secretary for Trump, holds a solid lead in the gubernatorial Republican primary
with 72.5 percent support, according to a recent survey conducted by local media Talk Business & Politics and Hendrix College among 802 likely GOP primary voters.
On the Democratic side for governor, Chris Jones garnered the support of 59.5 percent of likely voters in the survey; none of the party’s other candidates drew more than 5 percent support.
Sanders
campaigns heavily on her supportive role in the Trump administration, promising to protect conservative Arkansas from the radical agenda pushed by liberal lawmakers in Washington. She won Trump’s endorsement shortly after announcing her bid early last year.
Sanders
has raised a whopping $12 million for the primary race, far outpacing any other Republican or Democratic gubernatorial candidate, according to financial disclosures published by the Arkansas Secretary of State’s Office.
She also secured the endorsements of former Vice President Mike Pence, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton. Sanders is the daughter of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
Hutchinson is unable to seek reelection because of Arkansas’s two-term limit for governors.
Sanders’s lone Republican primary rival, Francis Washburn, attracted 16.5 percent support among likely voters in the survey. Washburn, a former talk radio host in Little Rock, became the lone GOP challenger after Sanders endorsed U.S. Sen. John Boozman and U.S. Rep. French Hill in their respective reelection races.
Neither Boozman nor Hill fully supported Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the Capitol, and Sanders’s endorsement of both lawmakers concerns Washburn, he told several local media outlets. After the incident, Boozman issued a
statement saying Trump bore some responsibility for the violence. Last May, Hill
voted to establish a commission to probe the incident.
Trump, however, has looked past Boozman’s statement and endorsed him for reelection to the U.S. Senate.
On
Boozman’s campaign page, Trump’s endorsement is front and center, accompanied by a note describing how Boozman worked with the former president to lower taxes, secure the border, protect the Second Amendment, and protect life.
According to the latest Federal Election Commission
data, Boozman has raised more than $4 million for his Senate reelection bid. He is followed by Jake Bequette, who has raised about $1 million, and Jan Morgan, who has raised about $554,000.
Bequette, a former NFL player and Army officer, positions himself as more conservative than Boozman. This is the first time Bequette has run for elected office.
Bequette’s campaign is boosted by billionaire donor Richard Uihlein, who
donated $1 million to the Arkansas Patriots Fund super PAC. The fund was almost entirely spent on TV ads supporting Bequette,
according to campaign finance data.
Uihlein owns Wisconsin-based Uline, a shipping and business supplies company. He has a record of supporting ultra-conservative candidates that run against established Republicans.
Morgan, a gun rights advocate and investigative journalist, is running on a platform of protecting Second Amendment rights. She has criticized Boozman for not challenging the 2020 election results; according to
an official statement, Boozman decided to accept the 2020 outcome because doing otherwise would have been unconstitutional.
According to a May survey conducted by Talk Business & Politics and Hendrix College, Boozman leads the Republican primary pack for the Senate with 45 percent of likely voters, followed by Bequette at 19 percent, and Morgan at 16.5 percent.
If Boozman fails to capture a majority in the May 24 primary, he will face a runoff election against the runner-up on June 21.
For the four congressional seats in Arkansas, incumbent Republicans have far outraised and outspent compared to their Republican primary challengers.
