The move positions Arkansas as a test of how engaged Trump, who publicly encouraged Sanders to run for governor, will be in his post-presidency in clashes over the direction of the Republican Party, while advisers, allies and relatives seek to continue his legacy.
The Arkansas governor race will also assess how Republican voters in the primaries find personal connections to Trump and his presidency – especially in a field with other well-known conservative candidates who have also allied themselves with the former president.
The contest already features two state officials who strongly supported Trump under Lieutenant Governor Tim Griffin, a former congressman who was once considered but passed over as secretary of the Army post in the Trump administration, and Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, a conservative who sided with Trump in court battles, including a process that challenges the 2020 election results
Sanders also has deep personal ties in Arkansas: his father, Mike Huckabee, spent more than a decade as governor before launching his failed 2008 and 2016 presidential candidacies.
Griffin welcomed Sanders into the race by finding space on his right, pointing out that his ad video called for something Arkansas had already done in expropriating sanctuary cities, and noting that his proposal to reduce the state’s income tax falls short of your call to eliminate it completely.
“I think there’s a lot to talk about besides 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 the lives of Arkansans,” said Griffin in an interview on Monday- market.
She announced her candidacy in a video posted on Twitter early Monday morning. “With the radical left now in charge of Washington, its governor is its last line of defense. In fact, your governor must be on the front lines, ”she said.
Griffin, a former George W. Bush official at the White House, said he “wouldn’t be surprised” if Trump campaigned for Sanders. But he downplayed the importance of his personal connection, saying his own record – including time opposing the policies of former President Barack Obama and then Vice President Joe Biden while in Congress, as well as implementing Trump-backed policies in Arkansas – the current political moment could come together better.
“I supported the Trump and Trump policies; Her too. Great. She worked for him – this is great. I worked for President Bush at the White House. I have a history of fighting the Obama-Biden agenda when I was in Congress, so that will be particularly relevant now, “said Griffin.
“For me, it is just a clear choice of who will be ready on the first day to lead Arkansas,” he said. “And I think you can see it in 100 different ways. In any case, I’m ready for the first day. And nobody else is.”
Neither Griffin nor Rutledge criticized Trump or Sanders’ association with the former president. In a statement, Rutledge praised his support for Trump’s “deregulation agenda at all levels” and said Sanders and his family are longtime friends. She said Arkansas needs “a leader with a proven track record of accomplishment against the liberal left”. Sanders’ campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
The fact that the Arkansas Republican Republican primaries have three high-profile candidates running to the right underscores how much the state has changed since Bill Clinton was governor; until a decade ago, the state had two Democratic senators.
Skip Rutherford, a longtime Clinton aide and dean of the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, said this would lead to a “bloody” primary that pits longtime veterans of Arkansas Republican politics against each other.
“This will be the main name for the stand-up-and-take-names type,” he said. “In the past, my friends on the Republican side had the luxury of having a candidate to support. As I said to someone the other day, welcome to growth, welcome to having to choose sides.”
CNN’s Dan Merica contributed to this report.