Arkansas governor ponders future in GOP turned TrumpianLITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Leading a state that went heavily for Donald Trump in the 2020 election and that has enacted some of the most aggressive laws on social issues, Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson in Arkansas has been in the national spotlight this year.
But not for embracing the state’s Trumpian turn. It’s for distancing himself from it.
At a time when red state governors like Ron DeSantis in Florida and Kristi Noem of South Dakota are carrying forward Trump’s rhetoric and policies, Hutchinson is doing the opposite. He’s taking a contrarian position that’s making him an outsider in the state party he helped build and that now could test whether there’s a path forward for ambitious Republicans in the reddest parts of the country that doesn’t rely on the former president.
“He represents an important voice in the party, a voice that is relatively independent of any established consensus,” said Republican pollster Whit Ayres, whose firm worked with Hutchinson before he was governor. “He thinks for himself and there are a number of us in the party who find that refreshing.”..........
https://apnews.com/article/ar-state-wire-arkansas-health-coronavirus-pandemic-government-and-politics-225185f71f53fe9dda10f09964e16c71
