Rutledge served as counsel for GovernorMike Huckabee before she was elected to be Arkansas attorney general in 2014. She was reelected as attorney general in 2018, and elected lieutenant governor in the 2022 after withdrawing from gubernatorial election and endorsing Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Rutledge was the first Republican and first woman elected attorney general for Arkansas, and is the first woman lieutenant governor of Arkansas.
Rutledge was hired as an attorney for the Division of Children and Family Services within the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) in October 2006, and resigned with immediate effect on December 3, 2007.[2] A partial set of personnel records obtained by the press in 2014 under Arkansas' freedom of information law showed that Rutledge was flagged by DHS with "do not rehire" status.[2] Rutledge said that she resigned to work for Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee's presidential campaign, suggested the "do not hire" status was not related to any incident at work, and suggested that the notation, "My guess is that it was because I did not give a two weeks notice."[2] In 2018, an employee of the Democratic Party of Arkansas filed a FOIA lawsuit to compel the release of Rutledge's DHS personnel file; Rutledge said the lawsuit was "dragging up decade-old fake news."[5] The agency had initially withheld the records, but a state judge ruled that Rutledge's file must be released under the Arkansas' freedom of information law.[6] The remaining eight pages of Rutledge's personnel file were then released, reflecting that her DHS employment was terminated for "gross misconduct"; Rutledge said the notation was incorrect.[5][7] Other records released in 2018 included one document evaluating Rutledge's performance as "satisfactory"; one non-disciplinary "counseling statement" critiquing her handling of a case; and a "notice of disciplinary action."[7]
Rutledge sought the Republican nomination for Attorney General of Arkansas in the 2014 election.[3] She faced fellow attorneys Patricia Nation[8] and David Sterling.[9] Rutledge finished with a plurality in the May 2014 primary but finished with less than 50 percent of the vote. She hence faced second-place finisher Sterling (the former city manager of Hope) in a runoff election.[10] Nation endorsed Rutledge, and she defeated Sterling.[11]
In September 2014, Pulaski CountyClerk Larry Crane canceled Rutledge's voter registration when he discovered that Rutledge had registered to vote in Washington, D.C., and Virginia.[12][13] Rutledge protested (saying that the cancellation of her registration "was improper, invalid and illegal") but nevertheless re-registered to vote in Pulaski County.[13]
In the November 2014 general election, Rutledge defeated Democratic Party nominee Nate Steel, a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives, and Libertarian Party nominee Aaron Cash, in the general election.[14] Rutledge won 51.61% of the vote, Steel 43.21%, and Cash 5.18%.[15]
In 2018, Rutledge won re-election.[16] She received 61.8% of the vote, defeating Democratic nominee Mike Lee (who received 35.43%) and Libertarian nominee Kerry Hicks (who received 2.77%).[15]
Rutledge was a speaker at the 2018 CPAC in Maryland; in her speech, Rutledge introduced herself as a "Christian, pro-life, gun-carrying conservative woman" and cited the Bible as a reason to limit immigration, mentioning the construction of city walls by Nehemiah referenced in the Book of Nehemiah.[27]
Gambling
In June 2017, Rutledge again rejected a proposed state constitutional amendment to legalize casino gambling. She rejected the proposal by Barry Emigh of Hot Springs, writing that the proposed popular name and ballot title are "misleading and wholly deficient."[28]
Healthcare
As AG, Rutledge frequently targeted the Affordable Care Act (ACA), seeking to dismantle it through court challenges. In 2018, she joined 19 other Republican-led states in a challenge to the ACA, saying, "It's time that we remove the Affordable Care Act from the backs of the American people."[29] Rutledge, along with then-President Donald Trump, asked the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down the entire ACA, which provides health insurance coverage to about 300,000 Arkansans.[30] The Supreme Court rejected the states' claims in a 7–2 decision in 2021.[31]
Rutledge defended an Arkansas law that regulated pharmacy benefit managers. In 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Arkansas law, ruling unanimously in Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Association that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) did not preempt state laws regulating PBMs.[32]
Abortion
In June 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade (1973) and ruled that there is no federal constitutional right to abortion. Under an Arkansas "trigger law" enacted in 2019 (Arkansas Act 180 of 2019), abortion was effectively banned in the state, except to save the life of the mother, immediately after the ruling. Rutledge celebrated the ruling and, under the 2019 law, she signed the formal certification that Roe had been overturned, implementing the abortion ban. Rutledge said that "it is my greatest honor to officially end abortion in Arkansas."[33][34][35]
Student debt
In 2022, after President Joe Biden took executive action to forgiving a portion of student loan debt, Rutledge joined a lawsuit (Biden v. Nebraska) brought by five other Republican state attorneys general.[36][37] The debt-relief program was ultimately blocked by a divided Supreme Court in 2023; Rutledge celebrated the ruling on Facebook, describing the program as "a way to erase the debt of privileged college grads."[38]
In the November 2020 United States presidential election, Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump. After his election loss, Trump and his allies attempted to subvert the election result. In December 2020, after the electoral college had already voted, Rutledge was one of 18 Republican state attorneys general who filed a failed lawsuit, Texas v. Pennsylvania, that sought to nullify the election outcome in four key states won by Biden (Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin) and thus keep Trump in power.[46] The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the lawsuit, which was predicated on baseless claims.[47] Rutledge did not publicly acknowledge the legitimacy of Biden's election victory until February 2021, after he had already taken office.[48]
In September 2022, The 65 Project, a legal activism group,[49] submitted an ethics complaint against Rutledge to the Arkansas Office of the Committee on Professional Conduct. The complaint said that, by advancing false and frivolous claims to undermine the election result, Rutledge violated the rules of professional conduct governing lawyers.[47][50][51] Rutledge denied wrongdoing, framing the ethics complaint as a "political attack" against her.[52]
State-sponsored television ads
As attorney general, Rutledge ramped up her office's spending on taxpayer-funded ads. The public relations ads,[53] in which Rutledge appeared on camera discussing vaping and other issues, were seen as a precursor to a likely bid for governor.[43] The ads (which in 2020 were branded "Rutledge Report") prompted criticism,[54] including from some state legislators, such as Republican state senator Jim Hickey, who termed the ads a form of self-promotion.[55] Rutledge's office spent $2.2 million on radio and television ads in fiscal year 2020,[55] nearly $1 million in fiscal year 2021, and $3.28 million in fiscal year 2022.[54]
In July 2020, Rutledge removed her name, image and voice from the AG Office television ads.[55] By September 2021, however, she resumed using her voice and image on the ads.[56] In January 2021, eight Arkansans filed a taxpayers' suit, alleging that Rutledge illegally spent public money to benefit Trump and herself politically through ad funding and through her involvement in out-of-state lawsuits, such as seeking to intervene in suits involving the National Rifle Association of America in Texas and New York.[57] Rutledge denied the allegations; a state judge denied her motion to dismiss the suit in September 2021.[56] In April 2022, the Arkansas Supreme Court dismissed most claims in the suit against Rutledge, ruling that she enjoyed sovereign immunity.[53][58] However, the court allowed the plaintiffs' claim against Rutledge in her official capacity for "illegal exaction" (i.e., unauthorized spending of taxpayer funds) to proceed.[53]
In 2021, following Trump's baseless claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election, Arkansas's Republican-led Legislature enacted four laws that made it more difficult for voters to cast ballots. The League of Women Voters of Arkansas, Arkansas United, and five individual voters challenged the legislation. In 2022, a state judge ruled that the laws unconstitutionally infringed the right to vote and issued a permanent injunction barring enforcement of the laws. Rutledge defended the state's laws, called the trial court's decision "erroneous," and appealed the ruling.[59][60][61] The Arkansas Supreme Court granted Rutledge's emergency motion for a stay, allowing the challenged laws to go into effect pending the appeal.[62][63]
Rutledge initially dismissed the likelihood that she would join the race for lieutenant governor, saying in a February 2021 interview that "after working a full-time job with a staff of 180 people, I'd be bored with a part-time job and a staff of two."[66] However, after badly trailing Sarah Huckabee Sanders in fundraising, Rutledge switched in November 2021 to the lieutenant governor race, where she faced a crowded field of rivals in the Republican primary, including state Senator Jason Rapert, state Surgeon General Greg Bledsoe, Washington County Judge Joseph Wood, Little Rock businessman Chris Bequette, and former Arkansas Republican Party chairman Doyle Webb.[66]
She won the nomination in the May 2022 Republican primary,[67] winning 54% of the vote; Rapert came in second place with 14.70%, with other candidates trailing in the single digits.[15] Rutledge defeated Democrat Kelly Krout in the November 8, 2022, general election; in the same election, Sanders, a fellow Republican, was elected governor.[68] In the election, Rutledge swapped places with Lieutenant Governor Tim Griffin, a former congressman who was elected to replace her as AG.[69][70]
Tenure
Rutledge took office as lieutenant governor on January 10, 2023.[71] In her position, Rutledge presides over the state Senate.[72]
Upon taking office, Rutledge requested a security detail; under a 1973 state law, the lieutenant governor is entitled to state-funded security provided by the Arkansas State Police, but previous lieutenant governors did not have it.[73][74] In March 2023, the president pro tempore of the state Senate, Bart Hester, proposed legislation to eliminate the provision entitling the lieutenant governor to State Police security, and instead shifting funding for the lieutenant governor's security to the appropriation for her office, adding two security officers for the next fiscal year.[74] Rutledge opposed the bill.[74]
In March 2023, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin accused Rutledge of misspending state funds during her time as AG.[75][76] In testimony before the state legislature's Joint Budget Committee personnel subcommittee, Griffin reported that his office determined that Rutledge had exceeded the $25 million-per-fiscal year limit on spending from the proceeds of lawsuit settlement fees, exceeding the limit by some $11.1 million in fiscal year 2023, before Griffin became AG.[76] Griffin said the spending over the limit was a clear violation of state law, while Rutledge maintained that the transfers were "in accordance with the law."[76] Griffin said he had hired a certified public accountant/attorney to oversee his office's audit and would attempt to recoup some funds that had been disbursed or transferred to other state agencies.[76]
Personal life
Rutledge lives in Maumelle.[77] In December 2015, Rutledge married Boyce Johnson, a farmer.[78] In July 2018, Rutledge gave birth to a daughter, becoming the first statewide Arkansas elected official to give birth while holding office.[79]
Electoral history
Arkansas Attorney General Republican primary election, 2014
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Republican
Leslie Rutledge
79,347
47.21
Republican
David Sterling
65,733
39.11
Republican
Patricia Nation
22,986
13.68
Arkansas Attorney General Republican primary runoff election, 2014
Theodore Edward Rokita is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 44th and current Attorney General of Indiana. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Indiana's 4th congressional district from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he served two terms as Secretary of State of Indiana from 2002 to 2010. When Rokita was elected to office in 2002 at age 32, he became the youngest secretary of state in the United States at the time.
The lieutenant governor of Arkansas presides over the Senate of the U.S. state of Arkansas with a tie-breaking vote, serves as acting governor of Arkansas when the governor is out of state and assumes the governorship in cases of impeachment, removal from office, death or inability to discharge the office's duties. The position is elected separately from the Arkansas Governor.
Derek Larkin Schmidt is an American lawyer and politician who served as the Kansas Attorney General from 2011 to 2023. A Republican, Schmidt was first elected to office serving in the Kansas Senate, where he represented the 15th district from 2001 to 2011, and served as Agriculture Committee chairman and Senate majority leader. Schmidt became the state attorney general in 2011, after he defeated incumbent Democrat Stephen Six.
Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr. is an American politician and lawyer who has served as the attorney general of Texas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the Texas Senate representing the eighth district and as a member of the Texas House of Representatives.
Luther Johnson Strange III is an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Alabama from 2017 to 2018. He was appointed to fill that position after it was vacated by Sen. Jeff Sessions upon Sessions's confirmation as U.S. Attorney General.
The State government of Arkansas is divided into three branches: executive, legislative and judicial. These consist of the state governor's office, a bicameral state legislature known as the Arkansas General Assembly, and a state court system. The Arkansas Constitution delineates the structure and function of the state government. Since 1963, Arkansas has had four seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Like all other states, it has two seats in the U.S. Senate.
Stanley Jason Rapert is an American politician from the state of Arkansas. A member of the Republican Party, he was a member of the Arkansas State Senate from 2011 to 2023, representing the 18th district and then the 35th district.
Sean David Reyes is an American lawyer and politician who has been the Attorney General of Utah since 2013. Appointed to the office by Governor Gary Herbert following the resignation of John Swallow, Reyes was reelected. Reyes is a member of the Republican Party and is a vocal and longtime supporter of Donald Trump. He has served as a county, state, and national delegate for the Republican Party and a member of the Utah Republican Party's State Central Committee.
A general election was held in the U.S. state of Arkansas on November 4, 2014. All of Arkansas' executive officers were up for election as well as a United States Senate seat, and all of Arkansas' four seats in the United States House of Representatives. Primary elections were held on May 20, 2014, for offices that need to nominate candidates. Primary runoffs, necessary if no candidate wins a majority of the vote, were held on June 10, 2014.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Arkansas since the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision in Obergefell v. Hodges on June 26, 2015, striking down same-sex marriage bans nationwide. Prior to this, same-sex marriage in Arkansas was briefly legal for a period beginning on May 9, 2014, as a result of a ruling by Sixth Judicial Circuit Judge Chris Piazza striking down the state's constitutional and statutory bans on same-sex marriage as violating the U.S. Constitution. Approximately 541 same-sex couples received marriage licenses in several counties before the Arkansas Supreme Court stayed his ruling pending appeal on May 16, 2014.
A general election was held in the U.S. state of Arkansas on November 6, 2018. All of Arkansas' executive officers were up for election as well as all of Arkansas' four seats in the United States House of Representatives. Primaries were held on May 22, 2018. Polls were open from 7:30 AM to 7:30 PM CST. Republicans retained all statewide offices and all four seats in the United States House of Representatives.
Ashley Brooke Moody is an American attorney and politician serving as the attorney general of Florida since January 2019. Moody previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney and a circuit court judge in Hillsborough County.
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 2022 Arizona Attorney General election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the next attorney general of Arizona concurrently with other federal and state elections. Incumbent Republican attorney general Mark Brnovich was term-limited and could not seek a third term in office. With a margin of 0.01%, Democrat Kris Mayes defeated Republican Abe Hamadeh in one of the closest elections in Arizona history, and the closest attorney general race of the 2022 election cycle. The race is also believed to be the only election directly affected by the deaths of anti-vaccine advocates from COVID-19.
Texas v. Pennsylvania, 592 U.S. ___ (2020), was a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the administration of the 2020 presidential election in four states in which Joe Biden defeated then-incumbent President Donald Trump.
The 2022 United States attorney general elections were held on November 8, 2022, to elect the attorneys general in thirty states, two territories, and one federal district. The previous elections for this group of states took place in 2018. The attorney general of Vermont serves two-year terms and was last elected in 2020.
The 2022 Arkansas Attorney General election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the next attorney general of Arkansas. Incumbent Republican Attorney General Leslie Rutledge won re-election on November 6, 2018, to a second term. She was term-limited and had announced a campaign for lieutenant governor of Arkansas in 2022. Primary elections were held on May 24, 2022.
A general election was held in the U.S. state of Arkansas on November 8, 2022. All of Arkansas' executive officers were up for election as well as all four of the state's seats in the United States House of Representatives and a U.S. senator. Primaries were held on May 24, 2022, with runoff primaries on June 21. Polls were open from 7:30 AM to 7:30 PM CST.
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.
The 2014 Arkansas Attorney General election was held on November 6, 2018, to elect the attorney general of Arkansas.
Italics indicate next-in-line of succession for states and territories without a directly elected lieutenant governor or whose lieutenant governor office is vacant:
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
