Michael Dale Huckabee is an American political commentator, Baptist minister, and former politician who served as the 44th governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate for the Republican Party presidential nomination in both 2008 and 2016.
The Republican Governors Association (RGA) is a Washington, D.C.–based 527 organization founded in 1961, consisting of U.S. state and territorial Republican governors. Its primary objective is to help elect and support Republican governors.
The 2006 Arkansas gubernatorial election took place on Tuesday, November 7, 2006. Incumbent Republican governor Mike Huckabee was barred from seeking candidacy due to term limits set by the State Constitution in 1998, stating that the governor may only serve two terms in their lifetime. Democratic State Attorney General Mike Beebe, defeated Republican former U.S. representative Asa Hutchinson by a wide margin. This was the first open seat election since 1978. Hutchinson later won the governorship in 2014 when Beebe was term limited.
In the United States, a governor serves as the chief executive and commander-in-chief in each of the fifty states and in the five permanently inhabited territories, functioning as head of state and head of government therein. While like all officials in the United States, checks and balances are placed on the office of the governor, significant powers may include ceremonial head of state, executive, legislative, judicial, and military. As such, governors are responsible for implementing state laws and overseeing the operation of the state executive branch. As state leaders, governors advance and pursue new and revised policies and programs using a variety of tools, among them executive orders, executive budgets, and legislative proposals and vetoes. Governors carry out their management and leadership responsibilities and objectives with the support and assistance of department and agency heads, many of whom they are empowered to appoint. A majority of governors have the authority to appoint state court judges as well, in most cases from a list of names submitted by a nominations committee.
Janet Huckabee is an American politician, the wife of former 2008 and 2016 Republican presidential candidate and former Arkansas governor, Mike Huckabee. She served as the First Lady of Arkansas, from July 1996 until January 2007 and oversaw a total remodel of the Arkansas Governor's Mansion, including the addition of the Grand Hall ballroom. Huckabee was also a Republican nominee for Arkansas Secretary of State in 2002. She is also the mother of current and first female governor of Arkansas, Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
John Bruce "Chip" Saltsman Jr. is an American politician who has served as chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party from 1999 to 2001, senior political advisor to former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, and manager of Mike Huckabee's 2008 presidential campaign. He also worked for the Chuck Fleischmann campaign in Tennessee's 3rd district from 2009 to 2010. Saltsman also worked for Randy Boyd's unsuccessful Tennessee Gubernatorial campaign in 2018.
The 1996 United States Senate election in Arkansas was held on November 5, 1996. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator David Pryor decided to retire. Republican Tim Hutchinson won the open seat, becoming the first Republican to win a U.S. Senate seat in Arkansas since Reconstruction in 1872 and the first to ever be popularly elected in the state. He was the first to win this seat since 1870. Hutchinson lost re-election in 2002 to David Pryor's son Mark Pryor.
The 1998 Arkansas gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1998 for the post of Governor of Arkansas. Incumbent Republican governor Mike Huckabee defeated Democratic nominee Bill Bristow to win a full term in office.
The 2022 United States Senate election in Arkansas was held on November 8, 2022, to elect a member to the United States Senate to represent the state of Arkansas. Incumbent Republican Senator John Boozman ran for a third term. He won the May 24, 2022 Republican primary with 58.03% of the vote and the general election with 65.73% of the vote.
United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 8, 2022, in 36 states and three territories. As most governors serve four-year terms, the last regular gubernatorial elections for all but two of the seats took place in 2018. The gubernatorial elections took place concurrently with several other federal, state, and local elections, as part of the 2022 midterm elections.
Sarah Elizabeth Huckabee Sanders is an American politician serving as the 47th governor of Arkansas since 2023. Sanders is the daughter of Mike Huckabee, who served from 1996 to 2007 as Arkansas's 44th governor. A member of the Republican Party, she was the 31st White House press secretary, serving under President Donald Trump from 2017 to 2019. Sanders was the third woman to be White House press secretary. She also served as a senior advisor on Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. Sanders became the Republican nominee in the 2022 Arkansas gubernatorial election and won, defeating Democratic nominee Chris Jones.
The 2022 Arkansas gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the next governor of Arkansas. Incumbent Republican governor Asa Hutchinson was term-limited and could not seek a third term. Republican Sarah Huckabee Sanders, daughter of former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, defeated Democrat Chris Jones to become the first woman ever elected to the office, and was sworn in on January 10, 2023.
The 2026 United States Senate elections are scheduled to be held on November 3, 2026, with 33 of the 100 seats in the Senate being contested in regular elections, the winners of which will serve six-year terms in the United States Congress from January 3, 2027, to January 3, 2033. Senators are divided into three groups, or classes, whose terms are staggered so that a different class is elected every two years. Class 2 senators were last elected in 2020 and will be up for election in this cycle.
United States gubernatorial elections are scheduled to be held on November 4, 2025, in two states, New Jersey and Virginia. These elections will be held as part of the 2025 United States elections. The last gubernatorial elections for New Jersey and Virginia were in 2021. Both incumbents are ineligible to run for re-election due to term limits. More states may hold elections due to a gubernatorial vacancy or recall of a governor.
The 2022 Arkansas lieutenant gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the lieutenant governor of the state of Arkansas. The election coincided with various other federal and state elections, including for Governor of Arkansas. Primary elections were held on May 24. Arkansas is one of 21 states that elects its lieutenant governor separately from its governor.
United States gubernatorial elections are scheduled to be held on November 3, 2026, in 36 states and three territories. The previous gubernatorial elections for this group of states took place in 2022, except in New Hampshire and Vermont, where governors serve two-year terms and elected their governors in 2024. Many of the states with elections in this cycle have incumbents who are officially term-limited.
The 2026 Oklahoma gubernatorial election will take place on November 3, 2026, to elect the governor of Oklahoma. Incumbent Republican Governor Kevin Stitt is term-limited and cannot seek re-election to a third term in office.
The 2026 Wisconsin gubernatorial election is scheduled to take place on November 3, 2026, to elect the governor of Wisconsin. Incumbent Democratic Governor Tony Evers is eligible to run for re-election to a third term but has not announced if he will do so. This will be one of five Democratic-held governorships up for election in 2026 in a state won by Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election and the state with the closest presidential margin of victory at R+0.9.
The 2024 Arkansas State Treasurer special election took place on November 5, 2024, to elect the next treasurer of Arkansas. Incumbent Republican treasurer Larry Walther was appointed by Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders on August 3, 2023, after the death of Mark Lowery. As an appointee, Walther cannot seek a full term, per the state constitution. Republican nominee John Thurston defeated Democrat John Pagan in the general election.
