Icon (Close Menu)

Logout

Republican Asa Hutchinson Elected Arkansas Governor

2 min read

LITTLE ROCK — Republican Asa Hutchinson was elected Arkansas governor, defeating Democrat and fellow ex-congressman Mike Ross in a race where the two had sparred primarily over competing plans to cut taxes.

The 63-year-old Hutchinson was elected to a four-year term, handing Republicans a win in a contest they had identified as their best opportunity to flip a governor’s office. Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe, who had defeated Hutchinson eight years ago, was barred by term limits from running.

Hutchinson, a former U.S. attorney, spent four years in Congress and served in the Bush administration as head of the Drug Enforcement Administration and later as an undersecretary of Homeland Security. He’d run unsuccessfully for statewide office three times before.

The 53-year-old Ross represented south Arkansas for 12 years in Congress. The two primarily feuded over their proposals to reduce individual income taxes, with Hutchinson proposing a $100 million reduction aimed at the middle class. Ross had proposed eventually cutting income taxes by $575 million, but stopped short of providing a specific timeline and said the reductions would be made as the budget allowed.

The two had also sparred over health policy, with Hutchinson criticizing Ross for voting for a version of health care legislation before a House committee. Ross voted against the health care bill that was eventually signed into law and had voted for its repeal.

While Ross had advocated for keeping Arkansas’ compromise Medicaid expansion under the overhaul, Hutchinson has said he’d decide whether to reauthorize the program after evaluating its progress and how the state would eventually pay for its share of the cost. The “private option” Medicaid expansion is providing health coverage to more than 211,000 low-income Arkansans.

(Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Send this to a friend