After striking the word Latinx from government language and restricting drag performances during her first month in office, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders already has two more targets in sight: “taking on some of the problems” Big Tech “has caused in our society” and phasing out state income tax.
“I want to lay out a blueprint for what other states can do,” she told The Post. “Instead of being a follower, Arkansas will be a leader in the conservative space.”
Huckabee Sanders is emerging as a rising star in the Republican Party.
The former Deputy Press Secretary for the Trump administration was sworn in as Arkansas’s first female governor in January, filling the shoes of her father, former governor Mike Huckabee.
The 40-year-old drew national attention last month when she delivered the Republican response to the State of the Union Address, boldly declaring, “President Biden and the Democrats have failed you, and it’s time for a change. A new generation of Republican leaders are stepping up, not to be caretakers of the status quo, but to be change-makers for the American people.”
drew national attention last month when she delivered the Republican response to the State of the Union Address.
And Huckabee Sanders is doing her part to make change. In her first 50 days in office, the governor signed more than 140 bills into law.
“I have political capital,” Huckabee Sanders told the Post. “I didn’t run to sit back and tinker with the system. I want frankly to flip it on its head and do really bold conservative things that are going to move my state forward.”
Much of her lawmaking has been aimed at slashing budgets and reeling in bureaucracy.
Some of her first executive orders were aimed at reducing government spending, limiting overreach and reeling in COVID-19 executive authority.
Excising the word “LatinX” — a gender-neutral term for Hispanic people — from official government communication has proven among her more controversial moves thus far.
It garnered national headlines and drew criticism from some who dubbed the ban “performative anti-wokeness.”
But Huckabee Sanders told The Post her office fielded multiple complaints from Hispanic Arkansans after the phrase was used in official government communication — and she pointed to a Pew Research poll which found only 3% of Latinos and Latinas self-describe as Latinx.
(Five Democratic lawmakers in Connnecticut have now proposed banning the word in that state’s government communications as well.)
“[The term] wasn’t reflective of what we want to see in state government,” the governor said. “And so we wanted to take clear, decisive action on day one. I’m proud of the fact that we were able to sign that executive order.”
On Thursday, the Arkansas House passed her LEARNS (Literacy, Empowerment, Accountability, Readiness, Networking and School Safety) executive order, which is set to be finalized by the State Senate next week.
The legislation — which Huckabee Sanders says has “been [her] focus since the session started” — has been touted as among the boldest, most sweeping school-reform bills in the country.
It would usher in a widespread voucher program allowing parents to apply the taxpayer dollars designated for their child’s education to the school of their choice.
“We’re putting the power and the control back into the hands of parents as well as back into the hands of the local communities that they serve,” she said.
Much of the governor’s attention has been spent on bills she says are aimed at protecting children, including executive orders that would restrict sexualized drag performances in public areas and prohibit “indoctrination” and critical race theory in schools.
Huckabee Sanders, who is married to political strategist Bryan Sanders, said that being a mom — to daughter Scarlett, 10, and sons George, 9, and William, 7 — has informed her child-first policymaking:
“Something that I take into consideration every time we’re looking at legislation is: How will this impact kids in Arkansas? How will this impact our longterm future for the state? And what will this leave in our kids’ laps as we move forward?”
“It makes everything personal because I know that every single decision that I’m going to make as governor will have a direct impact on the lives of my three kids,” she continued. “I think that is, frankly, one of the things that will make me a great governor.”
Looking forward, she wants to be remembered as “a bold conservative reformer,” and hopes the rest of the Republican Party takes note.
“It’s really important that we have new ideas and new innovation and energy that we’re bringing into the party,” the governor said. “That doesn’t mean that we ignore those who have come before us … but I think that we need to have a good mix. And, being the youngest governor in the country, I’m bringing that energy.”
Speaking of those who came before: Huckabee Sanders’ dad ran for president in 2008 and 2016 — so does she have similar ambitions?
“I did my time in DC,” she said, “and I’m very happy to be home.”