Asa Hutchinson

Hutchinson was born in Bentonville, Arkansas, the son of Coral Virginia (Mount) Hutchinson (1912–1998) and John Malcolm Hutchinson Sr. (1907–1991).

William Asa Hutchinson II (, AY-sə; born December 3, 1950) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served as the 46th governor of Arkansas from 2015 to 2023.

A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a U.S. attorney, U.S. representative, and in two roles in the George W. Bush administration.

He was a candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

He earned his bachelor's degree in accounting from Bob Jones University in South Carolina in 1972 and received his J.D. from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1975.

He practiced law in Fort Smith for 21 years and handled more than 100 jury trials.

In 1982, President Ronald Reagan appointed Hutchinson to serve as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, which covers most of Fort Smith.

In 1982, President Ronald Reagan appointed Hutchinson U.S. attorney for the Western District of Arkansas.

At age 31, Hutchinson was the nation's youngest U.S. attorney.

He made national headlines after successfully prosecuting The Covenant, The Sword, and The Arm of the Lord (CSA), a white supremacist organization founded by polygamist James Ellison.

The CSA forced a three-day armed standoff with local, state, and federal law enforcement.

As U.S. attorney, Hutchinson personally negotiated a peaceful conclusion to the standoff.

In 1986, Hutchinson unsuccessfully challenged Democratic U.S. Senator Dale Bumpers, before losing a race for Attorney General of Arkansas to Winston Bryant four years later.

In 1986, Hutchinson ran against incumbent Democratic U.S. senator and former governor Dale Bumpers.

It was a good year for Democrats, and Hutchinson fared worse than Bumpers's previous Senate challenger, Little Rock investment banker William P. "Bill" Clark.

In 1990, Hutchinson ran against Winston Bryant for attorney general of Arkansas; he lost the race by a margin of 55–45%.

Hutchinson then became co-chair, with Sheffield Nelson, of the Arkansas Republican Party, a position he held from 1991 through 1995, the last four years as full chair.

He considered a rematch with Bumpers in 1992 before deferring to Mike Huckabee, who lost to Bumpers.

In 1992 Hutchinson's brother, Tim, was elected to Congress in Arkansas's third congressional district, when veteran U.S. Representative John Paul Hammerschmidt retired.

He later successfully ran for the House of Representatives in 1996, representing Arkansas's 3rd congressional district until 2001, when president George W. Bush successfully nominated him as Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

In 1996, when his brother decided not to run for a third term in the House in order to seek the open Senate seat caused by the retirement of David Pryor, Hutchinson ran for the seat and won.

Hutchinson, who had at first decided to run for an open seat in the Arkansas House of Representatives from Sebastian County, defeated Ann Henry, a longtime friend of Bill and Hillary Clinton, in November 1996.

Although Henry outspent Hutchinson during the campaign, the district's heavy Republican tilt and his brother Tim's presence atop the ballot helped Asa win with 52% of the vote.

In 1998, Hutchinson was reelected to the House with far less difficulty, taking 81% of the vote against a third party challenger.

Hutchinson also served as one of the managers of the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton in 1998.

In 1999, Hutchinson was involved in the effort to reform campaign finance laws and offered an alternative proposal to the bill by Christopher Shays and Marty Meehan, which he opposed on the grounds that it "went too far" by attempting to ban television commercials by legal third-party organizations.

Hutchinson did support John McCain's and Russ Feingold's Senate bill.

He was reelected unopposed in 2000.

Hutchinson served as a house manager (prosecutor) in the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton.

In office, Hutchinson compiled a voting record as conservative as his brother's. He led efforts to crack down on illegal drugs, particularly methamphetamine.

Tim Hutchinson also won his campaign for the U.S. Senate and served one term, losing his reelection bid in 2002.

In 2003, Bush appointed Hutchinson as the Under Secretary for border and transportation security at the newly established Department of Homeland Security; Hutchinson retired from the Bush administration in 2005.

In 2006, Hutchinson was the Republican nominee for governor of Arkansas, but lost to Democratic nominee Mike Beebe, the state attorney general.

In 2014, Hutchinson was again the Republican nominee for governor, this time defeating the Democratic nominee, U.S. Representative Mike Ross.

He was reelected in 2018 with nearly two-thirds of the vote.

Due to term limits, he was barred from seeking reelection in 2022, and was succeeded by Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

From 2020 to 2021, Hutchinson served as vice chair of the National Governors Association.

He succeeded Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York as chair of the organization for 2021–2022.

In 2023 he announced his candidacy in the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries.

He suspended his campaign on January 16, 2024 after a poor performance in the Iowa caucuses.