LITTLE ROCK — Former U.S. Rep. Asa Hutchinson of Rogers said Friday that he “fully intends” to run for governor in 2014, the first Republican to enter the race, joining Democratic state Attorney General Dustin McDaniel as the only candidates to announce.
Hutchinson said that he had not filed paperwork with the secretary of state’s office and had not started fundraising but would file disclosure reports at the appropriate time.
“At this time I’m stating my intention very clearly, and as time goes on we’ll set up the necessary fundraising mechanism and committee filings,” Hutchinson said in an interview.
Curtis Coleman, a Republican and chairman of the Curtis Coleman Institute for Constitutional Policy, registered a committee to explore the possibility of running for governor with the secretary of state Wednesday.
Coleman has said he expects to announce his intentions by this summer.
Hutchinson said he had no need to form an exploratory committee because he fully intends to run for the office.
“There’s no exploring about it,” Hutchinson said.
The former congressman’s comments Friday mark the first time he has openly stated he was running for governor. After U.S. Rep. Mike Ross, a Democrat who was not seeking re-election, ruled out a bid for the governorship in May, Hutchinson said the Republicans “have many great potential candidates for 2014, but that is too far off to consider.”
In December, Hutchinson was appointed to lead the National Rifle Association’s study on school safety after a mass shooting in Newtown, Conn. He said at the time that the assignment “has no long-term impact on any decision I might make in that regard,” referring to the governor’s race.
In an interview Friday, Hutchinson called the appointment to lead the study “a very important commitment” and said he would make recommendations “in the next few months” for the NRA.
“While I fully intend to be a candidate in 2014, I am fully committed to finishing this project,” he said.
The 2014 contest will be Hutchinson’s fourth attempt at statewide office. In 1986,he unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Sen. Dale Bumpers for his seat and in 1990 lost to Winston Bryant in a race for attorney general.
In 2006, he ran unsuccessfully for governor against then-Attorney General Mike Beebe, a Democrat.
But the political landscape of Arkansas has changed drastically since then, said Hal Bass, a political science professor at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia.
“There’s been a revolution, an electoral realignment,” Bass said.
Since Hutchinson’s unsuccessful bid, Republicans took control of the state’s House and Senate, all four of the state’s congressional seats and three of the seven constitutional offices.
“In terms of the general election, I believe that he would be the beneficiary of the electorate changing,” Bass said.
Bass said Hutchinson was a familiar face in the state, can raise money effectively and would be a “very formidable primary candidate” because of his state and national party connections.
He said that if McDaniel, who recently disclosed an “inappropriate” relationship with Hot Springs lawyer Andrea Davis in 2011, is seen as vulnerable, more Republicans might enter the race.
McDaniel later released email records showing Davis had reached out to his office after a homicide at her home and again for help in a child custody dispute with her ex-husband. In another e-mail to the office requesting a time extension in a court case, Davis said McDaniel was familiar with her “moral fiber.”
In a statement released through his campaign spokesman, Tricia Wallace, on Friday, McDaniel did not refer to Hutchinson by name.
“I am excited about sharing my vision for education, infrastructure and economic development with my fellow Arkansans over the next 22 months. I expect a hard fought campaign regardless of who the Republican nominee is,” McDaniel said.
Doyle Webb, chairman of the Republican Party of Arkansas, said other possible candidates “are in their consideration stage” but they would have to “carefully consider Hutchinson’s strong candidacy.”
“I think that he is a well qualified candidate to serve our state as governor,” Webb said. “He would bring a great deal of experience and expertise to the office.”
Candace Martin, a spokesman for the Democratic Party of Arkansas, said Hutchinson “doesn’t have what it takes” to be governor and that the state deserves someone with “leadership that produces results.”
“Arkansans already determined that [Hutchinson] wasn’t gubernatorial material in 2006,” Martin said.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 01/05/2013