Asa Hutchinson

**William Asa Hutchinson II** (, _AY-sə_; born December 3, 1950) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician. He was the 46th Governor of Arkansas from 2015 to 2023. He is a Republican. He was the administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration during the George W. Bush administration from 2001 to 2003. Before, he was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1997 to 2001. Hutchinson unsuccessfully ran for President of the United States in the 2024 election.

## Early life

Hutchinson was born in Bentonville, Arkansas. He is a descendant of Alexander Simpson Hutchinson, a government official and slave owner in South Carolina and Arkansas. He earned his bachelor's degree from Bob Jones University in 1972. He received his J.D. from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1975.

## Legal career

In 1982, President Ronald Reagan hired Hutchinson as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas. At age 31, Hutchinson was the nation's youngest U.S. Attorney. He helped prosecute a white supremacist organization founded by polygamist James Ellison.

## Early political career

In 1986, Hutchinson unsuccessfully ran against Democratic U.S. Senator Dale Bumpers. He successfully ran for the United States House of Representatives in 1996, representing Arkansas's 3rd congressional district.

Hutchinson resigned from the U.S. House when President George W. Bush picked him to be Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration. In 2003, Bush appointed Hutchinson as the Under Secretary for border and transportation security at the newly created Department of Homeland Security. Hutchinson retired from the Bush administration in 2005.

## Governor of Arkansas

In 2006, Hutchinson was the Republican nominee for Governor of Arkansas, but lost to Democratic nominee Mike Beebe. In 2014, Hutchinson was again the Republican nominee for governor, this time beating the Democratic nominee, U.S. Representative Mike Ross. He was reelected in 2018.

While serving as governor, Arkansas started having executions again in 2017 after having executed no one since 2005. Under his time as governor, over 17,000 Arkansans lost their Medicaid coverage over a rule Hutchinson pushed for which required them to work.

In February 2019, Hutchinson signed a bill into law that would criminalize abortion should _Roe v. Wade_ be overturned.

From 2020 to 2021, Hutchinson was vice chair of the National Governors Association. From 2021 to 2022, he was chair of the association.

## 2024 presidential campaign

In May 2022, Hutchinson said he would think about running for president in 2024 even if former President Donald Trump ran again.

On April 2, 2023, Hutchinson announced his candidacy for the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries.

Hutchinson announced the suspension of his campaign on January 16, 2024, the day after the Iowa Republican caucus.

## Personal life

In 1973, Hutchinson married Susan Burrell. They have four children.

Hutchinson's older brother, Tim, is a former U.S. representative and U.S. senator.

## Other websites

- Governor Asa Hutchinson official government site
- Asa Hutchinson on Getting Our Country Back on Track

## Infobox (officeholder)

- **name**: Asa Hutchinson
- **image**: Asa Hutchinson - 53068419832 (cropped).jpg
- **order**: 46th List of governors of Arkansas, Governor of Arkansas
- **lieutenant**: Tim Griffin
- **term start**: January 13, 2015
- **term end**: January 10, 2023
- **predecessor**: Mike Beebe
- **successor**: Sarah Huckabee Sanders
- **office1**: Chair of the National Governors Association
- **1blankname1**: Vice Chair
- **1namedata1**: Phil Murphy
- **term start1**: July 8, 2021
- **term end1**: July 15, 2022
- **predecessor1**: Andrew Cuomo
- **successor1**: Phil Murphy
- **office2**: Vice Chair of the National Governors Association
- **1blankname2**: Chair
- **1namedata2**: Andrew Cuomo
- **term start2**: August 5, 2020
- **term end2**: July 8, 2021
- **predecessor2**: Andrew Cuomo
- **successor2**: Phil Murphy
- **office3**: United States Department of Homeland Security, Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Border and Transportation Security
- **president3**: George W. Bush
- **term start3**: January 23, 2003
- **term end3**: March 1, 2005
- **predecessor3**: _Office established_
- **successor3**: Randy Beardsworth (acting)
- **office4**: 8th Drug Enforcement Administration, Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration
- **president4**: George W. Bush
- **term start4**: August 8, 2001
- **term end4**: January 23, 2003
- **predecessor4**: Donnie R. Marshall
- **successor4**: Karen Tandy
- **state5**: Arkansas
- **term start5**: January 3, 1997
- **term end5**: August 6, 2001
- **predecessor5**: Tim Hutchinson
- **successor5**: John Boozman
- **office6**: Chair of the Republican Party of Arkansas, Arkansas Republican Party
- **term start6**: January 1, 1991
- **term end6**: December 31, 1995
- **alongside6**: Sheffield Nelson
- **predecessor6**: Ken Coon
- **successor6**: Lloyd Vance Stone Jr.
- **office7**: United States Attorney for the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, Western District of Arkansas
- **president7**: Ronald Reagan
- **term start7**: September 1, 1982
- **term end7**: January 20, 1985
- **predecessor7**: Larry McCord
- **successor7**: Michael Fitzhugh
- **birth name**: William Asa Hutchinson II
- **birth place**: Bentonville, Arkansas, U.S.
- **party**: Republican Party (United States), Republican
- **children**: 4
- **relatives**: Tim Hutchinson (brother)
- **education**: Bob Jones University (Bachelor of Arts, BA)
University of Arkansas (Juris Doctor, JD)
- **signature**: Asa Hutchinson signature.svg