Mike Huckabee

===Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas, campaign 1992===

In Huckabee's first political race in 1992, he lost to incumbent Democratic senator [[Dale Bumpers]], receiving 40 percent of the vote in the general election.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/05/us/the-1992-elections-state-by-state-south.html|title=The 1992 Elections: State by State; South|date=November 5, 1992|newspaper=[[The New York Times]] | first1=James | last1=Bennet | first2=John H. Jr. | last2=Cushman | first3=James | last3=Dao | first4=Jason | last4=DeParle | first5=Clifford | last5=Krauss | first6=Stephen | last6=Labaton | first7=Neil A. | last7=Lewis | first8=David | last8=Margolick | first9=Maria | last9=Newman | first10=Martin | last10=Tolchin | access-date=May 12, 2010}}</ref> In the same election, Arkansas governor [[Bill Clinton]] was elected [[President of the United States|president]], making lieutenant governor [[Jim Guy Tucker]] the new governor when Clinton resigned the governorship. In 1993, Republican state chairman [[Asa Hutchinson]] urged Huckabee to run in the [[special election]] for lieutenant governor held on July 27. Realizing his loss came among key conservative Democrats, Huckabee ran a decidedly conservative campaign. In the subsequent general election, he defeated Nate Coulter, who had been Bumpers's campaign manager the previous year,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2519/is_n5_v14/ai_14558214/pg_2 |title=GOP wins one in Arkansas – Republican Party; Mike Huckabee &#124; Campaigns & Elections &#124; Find Articles at BNET.com<!-- Bot generated title --> |publisher=FindArticles |access-date=October 16, 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080107151043/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2519/is_n5_v14/ai_14558214/pg_2 |archive-date = January 7, 2008}}</ref> 51–49 percent.<ref name = "Barone 136–137"/> Huckabee became the second Republican since [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]] to serve as Arkansas lieutenant governor, the first having been [[Maurice Britt]] from 1967 to 1971.

In his autobiography ''From Hope to Higher Ground'', Huckabee recalled the chilly reception that he received from the Arkansas Democratic establishment on his election as lieutenant governor: "The doors to my office were spitefully nailed shut from the inside, office furniture and equipment were removed, and the budget spent down to almost nothing prior to our arriving. After fifty-nine days of public outcry, the doors were finally opened for me to occupy the actual office I had been elected to hold two months earlier."<ref>Huckabee, ''From Hope to Higher Ground'', pp. 6–7</ref>

[[Dick Morris]], who had previously worked for [[Bill Clinton]], advised Huckabee on his races in 1993, 1994, and 1998.<ref name = "RexNelson">{{cite news |last=Nelson|first=Rex|date=July 2, 1995|title=Clinton's Hired Gun Gives Huckabee Hand: Lieutenant Governor Shooting for Senate|newspaper=[[Arkansas Democrat-Gazette]]}}</ref> Huckabee commented that Morris was a "personal friend".<ref name = "RexNelson"/> A newspaper article reported on Huckabee's 1993 win: "Morris said the mistake Republicans always make is that they are too much of a country club set. What we wanted to do was run a [[Progressivism in the United States|progressive]] campaign that would appeal to all Arkansans.{{Single+double}}<ref name = "RexNelson"/>

Morris elaborated, "So we opened the campaign with ads that characterized Mike as more of a moderate whose values were the same as those of other Arkansans."<ref name = "RexNelson"/> Consequently, he abandoned his earlier support for the [[Council of Conservative Citizens]] (CofCC) when in April 1994 following an adverse media campaign against the CofCC, Huckabee withdrew from a speaking engagement before their national convention. He repeated the accusations made by various media and [[civil rights]] organizations such as the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] recalling his past association with the CofCC saying, "I will not participate in any program that has [[racism|racist]] overtones. I've spent a lifetime fighting [against] racism and [[anti-Semitism]]."<ref>{{cite news |last=Duhart |first=Bill |title=Huckabee Won't Appear With Racist |newspaper=[[Philadelphia Tribune]] |date=April 12, 1994 |url=http://www.ferris.edu/isar/institut/CCC/philly.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924012016/http://www.ferris.edu/isar/institut/CCC/philly.htm |archive-date=September 24, 2015 }}</ref>

In 1994, Huckabee was re-elected to a full term as lieutenant governor, beating Democratic candidate Charlie Cole Chaffin with nearly 59 percent of the vote.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=3929|title=1994 AR Lt. Governor Election Results|publisher=OurCampaigns.com<!--note: |date=??? (says "Last Modified: Site Builder July 13, 2005 11:50 pm", but it's for a poll that happened in 1994!)-->}}</ref> While lieutenant governor, Huckabee accepted $71,500 in speaking fees and traveling expenses from a nonprofit group, Action America. [[R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company|R. J. Reynolds]] was the group's largest contributor.<ref name="Isikoff">{{cite news |last=Bailey |first=Holly |author2=Michael Isikoff |title=A Pastor's True Calling: Huckabee's success is due, in part, to right-time, right-place luck. But he says it comes from above. |work=[[Newsweek]] |date=December 8, 2007 |url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/74469/output/print |access-date=December 14, 2007 }}</ref>

In October 1995, [[David Pryor]] announced that he was retiring from the [[United States Senate]]. Huckabee then announced he was running for the open seat and moved ahead in the polls,<ref name = "Barone 136–137"/> but ultimately dropped out of the race to lead the state after incumbent governor [[Jim Guy Tucker]] resigned following his fraud and conspiracy convictions.<ref name="KevinSack" />

During his campaign, Huckabee opposed in December then-governor Tucker's plan for a constitutional convention.<ref>{{cite news |last=O'Neal |first=Rachel |author2=Caldwell, Elizabeth |title=Observers Say Arkansans: Arkansas voters didn't like the idea of allowing 26 appointed legislators to serve as delegates to a proposed constitutional convention |newspaper=[[Arkansas Democrat-Gazette]] |date=December 14, 1995 }}</ref> The plan was defeated by voters, 80–20 percent, in a [[special election]]. In January 1996, Huckabee campaigned in televised ads paid for by the [[Republican National Committee]] and the [[Republican Party of Arkansas|Arkansas Republican Party]] against a highway referendum. Tucker supported the referendum, which included tax increases and a bond program, to improve {{convert|1300|mi|km}} of highway.<ref name="Oneal">{{cite news |last=O'Neal |first=Rachel |title=Road Vote |newspaper=[[Arkansas Democrat-Gazette]] |date=January 11, 1996 }}</ref> On the referendum, the bond question, which included a sales tax increase and a gas tax increase, lost 87–13 percent. A second question, a five-cent increase on [[Diesel fuel|diesel]] tax, lost 86–14 percent.<ref name="Oneal" /><ref name="CharacterBook">{{cite book |last=Huckabee |first=Mike |title=Character Is The Issue |url=https://archive.org/details/characterisissue0000huck |url-access=registration |publisher=[[Broadman & Holman Publishers]] |year=1997 |location=Nashville |pages=[https://archive.org/details/characterisissue0000huck/page/65 65–67]|isbn=9780805463675 }}</ref> Huckabee also opposed Tucker's plan for school consolidation.<ref name="CharacterBook" />