Sarah Huckabee Sanders runs for governor of Arkansas in the 2022 election, CBS News confirmed. A source familiar with her plans said she would make the announcement on Monday.
The current Republican governor, Asa Hutchinson, cannot run again due to term limits.
Sanders, daughter of former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, became a household name while working as part of the Trump White House communications team. She initially served as deputy press secretary for the White House before taking over as press secretary after Sean Spicer resigned. Publicly known for her antagonistic relationship with the press, she maintained, in particular, a good relationship with many reporters.
When she left the government in June 2019, she had not held a press conference for more than 100 days. She tweeted the moment she was leaving with her “head up”.
Sanders was a press secretary for two years. His successor, Stephanie Grisham, left after 10 months without holding a single press release. Sanders, one of the original employees of Trump White House, called working for Mr. Trump the “opportunity of a lifetime”.
Her candidacy for governor was widely expected – Trump tweeted when she left the press office that she expected her to run.
“After three and a half years, our wonderful Sarah Huckabee Sanders will leave the White House at the end of the month and return home to Greater Arkansas,” Trump wrote in June 2019 in his now deleted Twitter account. “She is a very special person with extraordinary talents, who has done an incredible job! I hope she decides to run for the Arkansas government – she would be fantastic. Sarah, thanks for the job well done!”
Sanders was Trump’s favorite advisor, and she was a frequent guest at his rallies during the campaign, even after leaving the White House.
Since leaving the White House, Sanders has published a best-selling book, “Speaking for me: faith, freedom and the struggle for our lives within Trump’s White House”, which detailed his time as the first working mother to be the White House press secretary.
“As a working mom, I haven’t forgotten the great honor and privilege of being here on the podium,” she said in a memorable way during a briefing.
Sanders also compared his time as a press secretary to being caught in the middle of a “violent battle between the president and the media”.
“I often felt like I was on the front line in no-man’s-land,” Sander wrote.
Sanders will enter a Republican primary contest that already includes two state-elected officials: Deputy Governor Tim Griffin and State Attorney General Leslie Rutledge.