Mike Huckabee served as the third Republican governor of Arkansas since Reconstruction from 1996 to 2007.
Ascension In 1996, incumbent Democratic governor Jim Guy Tucker was convicted of fraud. The Arkansas Constitution, like nearly all state constitutions in the United States, does not allow convicted felons to hold office, so Tucker was forced to resign. However, Tucker, insisting he had a strong case for appeal, rescinded his resignation as Huckabee was preparing to be sworn in on July 15. Within a few hours, Tucker reinstated his resignation after Huckabee threatened to initiate impeachment proceedings against Tucker. Huckabee was sworn in as Governor of Arkansas on July 15, 1996. In November 1998, Huckabee was elected to a full four-year term by defeating retired Colonel Gene McVay in the primary and Jonesboro attorney Bill Bristow in the general election, becoming the state's third elected Republican governor since Reconstruction. In November 2002, Huckabee was reelected to his second four-year term by defeating State Treasurer Jimmie Lou Fisher, garnering 53 percent of the vote. By the end of his term, Huckabee owned the third-longest tenure of any Arkansas governor. Only Democrats Orval Faubus, who served six consecutive two-year terms (1955–1967), and Bill Clinton, who served 11 years, 11 months (1979–1981; 1983–1992), had longer tenures.
The first years In late 1996, Huckabee campaigned for ballot Amendment 1, a plan to adjust property tax rules to make school funding more equal across the state, and Amendment 2, a constitutional amendment increasing the state sales tax 0.125 percent to improve the state's park system and natural resources. As part of the campaign, Huckabee traveled the entire length of the Arkansas River within Arkansas by boat. Amendment 1 passed 52%-48% and Amendment 2 passed 51%-49%.
Huckabee proclaimed 1997 as a year of racial reconciliation by saying "Let every one of us make it our priority to bring reconciliation, not so much that we can force it or legislate it, because we cannot, but that we begin in each of our own lives to purpose in our hearts that we will not harbor anger, hostility, prejudice, bigotry and racism toward any person."
Huckabee signed legislation to create a health insurance program which extended coverage to children of lower-income families, to be funded in part by Medicaid, SCHIP, and a tobacco industry lawsuit settlement. The program, ARKids First, reduced the number of uninsured children to nine percent (compared with 12 percent for the nation) in 2003. Also in his first year as governor Huckabee signed a partial birth abortion ban and a $7.6 Million Smart Start program for primary school students to learn "the basic skills of reading, math, and character". Huckabee vetoed a $140 million bill for capital improvements. The Arkansas General Assembly overrode the veto.
Huckabee signed the Child Welfare Agency Licensing Act in 1997. This bill has provisions which allow religious groups to contract for social services with the state without having to compromise their principles. An excerpt reads,
Provided that the health, safety and welfare of children in the care of a child welfare agency is not endangered, nothing in this act shall be construed to permit the Board to promulgate or enforce any rule that has the effect of: (A) interfering with the religious teaching or instruction offered by a child welfare agency; (B) infringing upon the religious beliefs of the holder(s) of a child welfare agency license; (C) infringing upon the right of an agency operated by a religious organization to consider creed in any decision or action relating to admitting or declining to admit a child or family for services; (D) infringing upon the parents' right to consent to a child's participating in prayer or other religious practices while in the care of the child welfare agency; (E) prohibiting the use of corporal discipline.
Huckabee made sure that state agencies were compliant with charitable choice. His administration issued guidelines in October 2000, which allow religious groups to offer voluntary religious programs and to leave their religious artifacts on the walls as long as welfare clients are not pressured to convert and tax money doesn't directly underwrite them. Religious groups are allowed to reject a job candidate on religious grounds. The guidelines also guarantee that any client can receive alternative placement if the client objects to a religious provider.
In a February 1998 presidential straw poll of 65 Christian Coalition leaders, Huckabee came in second to John Ashcroft and ahead of Steve Forbes, J. C. Watts and George W. Bush.
On May 22, 1998, the Arkansas Ethics Commission fined Huckabee US$1,000 for failing to report campaign payments made to himself and his wife.Duffy, Joan (May 23, 1998). "Ark. Governor to Pay Ethics Fine". The Commercial Appeal. In October 1998 the Arkansas Times suggested Huckabee used a fund set up for the maintenance of the Governor's Mansion for his own personal use. The Arkansas Times later reported Huckabee was listed as the recipient of furniture given to the Governor's Mansion and not the Mansion itself. Tom Mars, Huckabee's attorney, denied any misuse or inappropriate actions.
Sentence commutations Wayne DuMond case
Huckabee has come under criticism for his handling of the case of Wayne DuMond (also spelled Dumond), a convicted rapist who was released during Huckabee's governorship. Despite a crude castration and a professed religious conversion in prison, DuMond subsequently sexually assaulted and murdered a woman in Missouri. DuMond's case had attracted national attention in the mid-1990s from critics of President Clinton who felt that Clinton, Arkansas governor at the time of the rape, had been too harsh with DuMond because DuMond's victim was a distant Clinton relative. Clinton had recused himself from any involvement in the case. Before taking office, Huckabee met with DuMond's wife and privately announced his intention that DuMond be set free, stating his unhappiness with the way Clinton handled the case.Dunleavy, Steve (June 2, 1996). "How Gov. Clinton Denied an Innocent Man His Freedom". New York Post
On September 20, 1996, Huckabee publicly announced his intention of commuting DuMond's sentence to time served. DuMond had originally been sentenced to life plus twenty years in prison, but in 1992, Tucker reduced the sentence to 39½ years, which gave DuMond the possibility of parole. Although there was strong pressure to commute DuMond's sentence from Clinton critics ill-informed by the New York Post columns of Steve Dunleavy, a close friend and writer for Rupert Murdoch, there was also strong opposition to Huckabee's plan from DuMond's victims, female Arkansas legislators, and various law enforcement officials, leaving Huckabee in a difficult situation politically.
On October 31, 1996, Huckabee met privately with the parole board to talk about the DuMond case. The Arkansas Times has argued that this closed-door meeting appeared to violate Arkansas' FOIA law.Waas, Murray S. "Dumond case revisited - A reminder of Huckabee's role in his freedom" , Arkansas Times, September 1, 2005. On January 16, 1997, DuMond was granted parole, just five months after he had been rejected. Huckabee released a statement saying, "I concur with the board's action and hope the lives of all those involved can move forward. The action of the board accomplishes what I sought to do in considering an earlier request for commutation ... In light of the action of the board, my original intent to commute the sentence to time served is no longer relevant." The parole was granted on the condition that DuMond leave the state. He moved to Smithville, Missouri, in 1999 and was later convicted there of sexually assaulting and murdering a woman who lived near his home. DuMond was also a suspect in the murder of a pregnant woman in Platte County, Missouri. DuMond died in prison in 2005. Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Jegley has argued Huckabee granted too many clemencies.
In 2005, The Arkansas Times reported on the role that Huckabee played in the parole board's decision.
When questioned about the case during his presidential campaign in 2007, Huckabee denied pressuring any parole board members to release DuMond, despite three of the parole board members stating that they felt he did pressure them to do so.Huckabee: Politicization of rape victims' deaths 'heartbreaking' CNN.com, December 6, 2007 Huckabee's official website states: "Governor Huckabee either denied Wayne DuMond's clemency request, or took no action (which is the same as a denial) on four separate occasions." The website states that it was Governor Jim Tucker who "made Wayne DuMond immediately eligible for parole", which, his website says, is granted by the parole board and not by the governor.
Maurice Clemmons case In an unrelated matter, Huckabee also commuted the sentence of Maurice Clemmons, the primary person of interest in the November 29, 2009, murders of four Lakewood, Washington police officers, because Clemmons was 17 at the time of his offenses.
First full term In January 1999, Huckabee joined the presidential exploratory committee of Lamar Alexander. Later, Huckabee endorsed George W. Bush. The Washington Post reported in February 2000,
"This is a guy who gets things done," said Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. "The more people get to know George Bush, the more than are going to get to like him."
On April 1, 1999, Huckabee signed into law a three cent increase in tax on gasoline and a four cent increase on diesel. Attached to the bill was a bond issue to pay for highway construction. The Commercial Appeal reported: "All the diesel money will be earmarked to pay off the bonds or, if the bond issue fails, to directly finance repairs to the interstates. The gasoline tax money will finance work on non-interstate state roads, notably projects approved in a 1991 road program that without new money remains seven years from completion. Should the bond issue fail, the taxes would remain in place, lessening the chances that the trucking industry will campaign against the bonds." Huckabee commented that the bond issue "won't affect taxes, it will only affect construction acceleration".
Huckabee led a public relations campaign for the bond program for road reconstruction. Arkansas voters approved Huckabee's program.Jefferson, James (June 16, 1999). "Voters Back Huckabee's Road Plan: 'Build Now, Pay Later' Parts With Tradition". The Commercial Appeal. In 1999, the Arkansas Comprehensive Testing, Assessment and Accountability Program (ACTAAP) was established. Huckabee modeled ACTAAP after K-12 programs in other states:
I've been fortunate to become friends with Gov. Jim Hunt of North Carolina and Gov. George W. Bush of Texas. They've shared their comprehensive assessment and accountability programs. We now have statewide academic standards that allow us to set clear teaching objectives. We have statewide assessments linked to those standards. We have accountability systems with consequences for schools that fail to perform.
Subsequent legislation amended ACTAAP to conform to No Child Left Behind. Later, in 2005, Huckabee stated,
And one thing I salute about [George W. Bush] is No Child Left Behind, and no matter what you've heard about it let me tell you it's the best thing that ever happened in education because it says we're not going to let children spend years and years and let taxpayers spend thousands and thousands of dollars only to find out when the kid graduates high school that he's basically a functional illiterate, that we're not going to leave him lingering back in those classrooms and that he or she will get a decent education and we will hold accountable those who are responsible for getting that child a good education.