William Asa Hutchinson II (born December 3, 1950) is the 46th and current governor of Arkansas. He is an American attorney, businessman, and politician.
He served as the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Arkansas from 1982 to 1985, as the representative for Arkansas’s 3rd congressional district from 1997 to 2001, as the administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) from 2001 to 2003 and as the first undersecretary for border and transportation security (DHS) from 2003 to 2005. He is a Republican.
Hutchinson, the Republican nominee for governor of Arkansas in 2006, lost to Mike Beebe, the state’s then-outgoing attorney general and the Democratic nominee. Hutchinson ran for governor as a Republican again in 2014 and won this time against U.S. Representative Mike Ross as the Democratic nominee.
In 2018, he won reelection with almost 60% of the popular vote. Term restrictions prevented him from running for reelection in 2022, and Sarah Huckabee Sanders eventually took up his position.
History and Beginnings in the Law
Hutchinson is the son of Coral Virginia (Mont) Hutchinson (1912-1998) and John Malcolm Hutchinson Sr., and he was born in Bentonville, Arkansas (1907–1991). Bob Jones University in South Carolina awarded him a bachelor’s degree in accounting in 1972, and the University of Arkansas School of Law awarded him a juris doctorate in 1975. During the course of 21 years, he represented clients in front of a jury in Fort Smith.
Hutchinson served as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas beginning in 1982, after being nominated by President Ronald Reagan. Hutchinson, at the age of 31, was the youngest U.S. Attorney in American history. He gained widespread attention for leading the successful prosecution of the white supremacist group CSA, which was founded by polygamist James Ellison.
For the course of three days, the CSA and local, state, and federal law authorities were locked in a tense armed confrontation. Hutchinson, in his role as U.S. Attorney, donned a flak jacket and personally negotiated an end to the stalemate.
Asa Hutchinson Careers in Business
Hutchinson started a consultancy firm called Hutchinson Group, LLC with Betty Guhman and Kirk Tompkins in Little Rock in 2005. He also signed a one-year contract to lead Venable LLP’s Homeland Security practice in Washington, D.C.
In order to devote more time to his gubernatorial campaign and his consulting firm in Little Rock, Hutchinson quit his job with Venable LLP in March 2006. Hutchinson came back to work with Venable in January 2007.
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Profession in Politics
Hutchinson challenged then-Governor and incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Dale Bumpers in 1986. Hutchinson did worse than Bumpers’ previous Senate competitor, Little Rock investment banker William P. “Bill” Clark, in a year that was good for Democrats.
Hutchinson lost a close election for attorney general of Arkansas to Winston Bryant in 1990. Hutchinson then served as co-chair of the Arkansas Republican Party alongside Sheffield Nelson from 1991 to 1995, the final four of which he spent as sole chair. In 1992, he was thinking about challenging Bumpers again before ultimately conceding to Mike Huckabee, who had previously lost to Bumpers.
Who is Asa Hutchinson Married with?
Tim Hutchinson Asa’s older brother also served as a U.S. senator from 1997 to 2003 before being defeated for reelection in 2002 by then-Arkansas Attorney General Mark Pryor, a Democrat. Tim Hutchinson was Asa’s predecessor as the congressman for Arkansas’ 3rd congressional district.
Asa and Tim Hutchinson both earned degrees from Bob Jones. Identical twins Jeremy and Timothy Chad Hutchinson, sons of former governor Tim Hutchinson, made history as the first brothers to serve together in the Arkansas General Legislature.
Former Arkansas state senator Kim Hendren is married to Asa Hutchinson’s sister, Marylea, whom he married in 1958. Sulphur Springs resident and Arkansas state senator Jim Hendren (District 2) is Hutchinson’s nephew.
Asa Hutchinson III, Hutchinson’s son, was arrested in 2023, 2019 and 2016 for driving while intoxicated, as well as in 2016 for possession of a controlled substance at a music festival and in 2023 for simultaneous possession of a controlled substance and a firearm. Along with his wife, Susan Burrell, he has raised four children.
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