Old Smokey Eye is back!
Trump’s former press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is announcing Monday that she is running for Governor of Arkansas, in one of the first tests of Trump’s hold on the Republican Party.
She will join a competitive Republican primary race to replace Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R), who faces term limits after eight years in office. She will challenge Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin (R) and Attorney General Leslie Rutledge (R), both of whom have already said they will run.
The state backed Trump in November with 62% of the vote, and the governor’s prize is expected to remain Republican. While the state has elected Democrats in recent history — from former governor and President Bill Clinton to former Sen. Mark Pryor more recently — Arkansas has politically veered right over the last decade.