ELECTION RESULTS

JAE HURD | STAFF WRITER

Last November, Sarah Huckabee Sanders was elected as the first woman governor of Arkansas over Chris Jones, the Democratic candidate. Sanders was a member of Trump’s administration during his presidency, and “the highest profile Trump administration official in elected office,” according to AP news. Before getting into her future, let’s look at her past.

Sanders has a history in politics, including helping her father, and former governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee, run for President in both 2008 and 2016. In 2008, she was his national politics director, a position which “sets the agenda” for the campaign, according to the Democratic National Committee. In 2016, she was her father’s campaign manager. By February 1st, 2016, Huckabee’s campaign was suspended. Twenty four days later, Sanders joined Donald Trump’s campaign as the senior advisor. After Trump won, she was “named the Deputy Assistant to the President and Press Secretary on January 19, 2017” (Ballotpedia). Now, she is the governor of Arkansas, following in her fathers footsteps, beating Chris Jones with 63% of the votes. This is the first time she has ever served in elected office. So what does this mean for the future of our state? What does she have in store for us?

One of the policies Sanders has stated she wants to impose, according to her website, is upping law enforcement in Arkansas by hiring more cops and increasing their resources. She also wants to “increase prison capacity” as a part of her “make Arkansas safer” initiative. She promises she will “never defund the police” and that she will stand with police against Biden and “the radical left.” These promises, along with Sanders’ pro-life position on abortion, follow with the standard ideals of the Republican Party.

One of the ways that Sanders differentiates herself from her predecessor, Asa Hutchinson, is her position on trans youth and gender affirming healthcare. According to the Washington Examiner, “Sarah Sanders said that she would have supported an Arkansas bill banning transgender medical intervention for minors that was vetoed by Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson,” (Aabram). She says that her reasoning for this is that minors should not have the ability to make choices for themselves that are permanent, a position fully endorsed by Donald Trump. This position and reasoning is something heavily contested and criticized by members of the LGBTQ+ community, who argue that not being able to take HRT (hormone replacement therapy, the treatment often required in gender affirming healthcare) will also permanently change their bodies. The difference between this healthcare and tattoos, something she cites as another example of her reasoning, is that someone can always get a tattoo later in their life, but puberty will alter someone’s body one way or the other, and not being able to take the treatment trans youth need will still permanently affect their body. Sanders has also supported Trump’s ban on transgender soldiers in the military.

Her main opponent, Chris Jones, supported trans healthcare, saying “Certainly whatever changes are necessary to ensure that people feel safe, and feel like they can be a part of the broader Arkansas community is what I would not only support, but make any necessary changes to ensure that that happens.’’ In contrast to Sanders, Jones also promised resources to help the Arkansas education system and to ensure everyone has the opportunity for preschool and to build up our community colleges. He also promised to protect voters’ rights, eldercare, and solar power in Arkansas. Asa Hutchinson has assured the public he will be working with Sanders to ensure a smooth transition.