LIVE RESULTS: Sarah Huckabee Sanders wins Republican nomination for governor of Arkansas
Arkansas held gubernatorial and state legislative primaries on Tuesday. Polls closed at 7:30 p.m. local time.
The race and the stakes:
Sarah Huckabee Sanders secured the Republican nomination for governor in Arkansas to succeed outgoing Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
Sanders, the daughter of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, previously served as White House press secretary under the Trump administration for nearly two years from July 2017 to July 2019. After leaving the White House, Sanders served as a Fox News contributor before launching her campaign for governor.
Prior to Tuesday, Sanders had largely cleared the field of serious competition for the Republican nomination and led her only opponent, radio host Francis "Doc" Washburn, by a wide margin in the polls.
"We want to tackle making Arkansas the best place to live, work, and raise a family, and we're going to get to work and roll our sleeves up very quickly to make that happen," Sanders said of her campaign's goal.
The candidates running for the Democratic nomination include nonprofit leader Chris Jones and state Rep Jay Martin.
Arkansas is a runoff state, meaning the top two candidates will advance to a June 21 runoff election if no one secures over 50% of the vote on Tuesday.
Sanders is certain to win the general election in deep-red Arkansas, which voted for President Donald Trump over Joe Biden by over 27 points in 2020.