Our View

Our View

Hutchinson will be tough to beat in 2018

It really comes as no real surprise to hear that Gov. Asa Hutchinson wants a second term, and while his campaign can’t take anything for granted, let’s face the fact that his successes in fulfilling his promises, his leadership ability and popularity are tremendous assets that any possible opponent must consider and take very seriously before throwing his or her gubernatorial hat in the ring.

Honestly, critics have very little to sink their teeth into since Republican Hutchinson defeated Democrat Mike Ross in November 2014 and his accomplishments, supported by the GOP led state House and Senate, are a major factor in his popularity among many Arkansans.

The state’s Democratic Party has struggled to change their minority and basically irrelevant status in Little Rock based on Hutchinson’s leadership and the support his administration has gotten from GOP lawmakers.

One of the biggest challenges Hutchinson has, and is continuing to cope with, is making government subsidized health care available to the more than 300,000 Arkansans and doing so without bankrupting the state.

One of Hutchinson’s plans the Republican-donminated Legislature enacted was to ask the Trump administration for a waiver to shift about 60,000 of these Arkansans enjoying the benefits of Medicaid to the state’s health insurance exchange and impose a work requirement on many participants in the program.

State Democrats and liberals, struggling to find a way to sink their teeth into, feel they can use this to convince voters what Hutchinson and Republican lawmakers are doing is to strip “poor” Arkansans of their access to government subsidized health care. This type of scare tactic is a classic method we expect Democrats will use if they are able to come up with a candidate strong enough to beat this highly popular sitting governor.

State Democrat Party Chairman Michael John Gray of Augusta, is spouting off that the Republican brand “has been damaged” and people are ready for change. Wishful thinking from a segment of this political party that has been hijacked by a bunch of liberal, left-wing radicals who have failed with their socialistic endeavors.

On the other hand, Hutchinson’s popularity comes from the fact he has been credited with 60,000 new jobs and responsible for the state’s unemployment rate of just 3.6 percent, the lowest on record.

This governor has cut income taxes on those Arkansans that aren’t dependent upon government subsidies by $150 million; put in place a hiring freeze that eliminated 1,400 government positions and saved about $40 million as well as been successful in attracting new business and industry into the state.

There is no doubt Hutchinson will be a formidable gubernatorial contender if, in fact, Democrats have a candidate to oppose him next year.