Asa Hutchinson Net Worth, Family, Wife, Education, Children, Age, Biography, Political Career

Asa Hutchinson Biography

William Asa Hutchinson II, the 46th and current governor of Arkansas, is an American businessman, lawyer, and politician. He previously served as U.S. Attorney for the Fort Smith-based Western District of Arkansas (1982-1985), as U.S. Representative for Arkansass 3rd district (1997-2001), as Administrator of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (2001-2003), and as the first Undersecretary for Border and Transportation Security at the United States Department of Homeland Security (2003–2005).

Hutchinson was the Republican nominee for Governor of Arkansas in 2006, but he was defeated by Democratic nominee Mike Beebe, the state's outgoing attorney general. Hutchinson was the Republican candidate for governor again in 2014, this time defeating Democratic U.S. Representative Mike Ross. He was re-elected with nearly two-thirds of the vote in 2018. Hutchinson is barred from running for governor of Arkansas in 2022 and beyond due to term limits.

Hutchinson served as vice chair of the National Governors Association from 2020 to 2021, then succeeded Democratic Governor Andrew M. Cuomo of New York as chair of the organization from 2021 to 2022.

In 1972, he graduated from Bob Jones University in South Carolina, and in 1975, he received his J.D. from the University of Arkansas School of Law. He was a lawyer in Fort Smith for 21 years and handled over 100 jury trials.

President Reagan appointed Hutchinson as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas in 1982. Hutchinson was the country's youngest U.S. Attorney at the age of 31. He made national headlines after successfully prosecuting polygamist James Ellison's supremacist organization, The Covenant, The Sword, and Therefore the Arm of the Lord (CSA). The CSA compelled a three-day armed standoff with local, state, and federal authorities. Hutchinson, as U.S. Attorney, donned a flak jacket and personally negotiated a peaceful resolution to the standoff.

Asa Hutchinson Net Worth

Asa Hutchinson Net Worth is $ 5 Million in 2022.

Asa Hutchinson Family, Parents

Hutchinson was born in Bentonville, Arkansas, to Coral Virginia (Mount) Hutchinson (1912-1998 and John Malcolm Hutchinson Sr). (1907–1991).

Tim Hutchinson, Asa Hutchinson's older brother, preceded him as U.S. Representative from Arkansas's 3rd congressional district and served one term as a United States Senator from Arkansas from 1997 to 2003, defeating then-Arkansas Attorney General Mark Pryor, a Democrat, for a second term in 2002. Asa and Tim Hutchinson both attended Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina, with Asa graduating in 1972. His identical twin nephews, Jeremy and Timothy Chad Hutchinson, sons of Tim Hutchinson, were the first twins to serve in the Arkansas General Assembly together, both as House members. Hutchinson is the brother-in-law of Kim Hendren, a former Arkansas state senator who married Hutchinson's sister, Marylea Hutchinson, in 1958. Hutchinson's nephew is Arkansas District 2 State Senator Jim Hendren of Sulphur Springs.

Asa Hutchinson Wife, Children

Asa Hutchinson Married Susan Hutchinson. They have 4 Children.

Asa Hutchinson Career and Achievement

Business Career

In early 2005, Hutchinson established Hutchinson Group, LLC in Little Rock with partners Betty Guhman and Kirk Tompkins, and accepted a one-year contract as the chair of Venable LLP's Homeland Security practice in Washington, D.C. Hutchinson left Venable LLP in March 2006 to focus on his gubernatorial campaign and his consulting firm in Little Rock. Hutchinson rejoined Venable in January 2007.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported in June 2006 that Hutchinson's $2,800 investment in Fortress America Acquisition Corporation, a corporation Hutchinson advised, was worth more than a million dollars after the company's initial public offering. According to the news article, Hutchinson will be unable to touch his stock for another two years. In addition to Hutchinson, the six founding shareholders in Fortress America included former U.S. Representative Tom McMillen of Maryland, former U.S. Senator Don Nickles of Oklahoma, and a private-equity firm led by former CIA Director James Woolsey.

Hutchinson had filed a financial disclosure form, which he was required to do as a candidate for governor, two months earlier, on May 4, 2006. His 200,000 shares in Fortress America, which were trading at around $5 per share, were not listed on the shape. When questioned by the media in June, Hutchinson stated, "It was completely an oversight." To correct the error, he filed an amended report the next day.

Political Career

Early Efforts

Hutchinson faced incumbent Democratic Senator and former Governor Dale Bumpers in 1986. It was a Democratic year across the country, and Hutchinson fared worse than Bumpers previous Senate opponent, Little Rock underwriter William P. "Bill" Clark, in the 1980 election.

Hutchinson ran for Attorney General of Arkansas against Winston Bryant in 1990, but lost in a close race. After losing the 1990 election, Hutchinson became co-chairman of the Arkansas Republican Party with Sheffield Nelson, a position he held for five years. In 1992, Hutchinson considered a rematch with Bumpers before deferring to Mike Huckabee, who lost to Bumpers.

U.S. House of Representatives

When veteran Republican U.S. Representative John Paul Hammerschmidt retired in 1992, Hutchinson's brother, Tim, was elected to Congress in Arkansas's third congressional district. Hutchinson ran for and won the open Senate seat caused by the retirement of Democrat David Pryor in 1996, after his brother decided not to run for a third term in the House.

In November 1996, Hutchinson defeated Ann Henry, a long-time friend of Bill and Hillary Clinton, in a run for an open seat in the Arkansas House of Representatives from Sebastian County. Although Henry outspent Hutchinson during the campaign, the district's heavy Republican tilt and his brother Tim's presence at the top of the ballot helped Asa win with 55 percent of the vote—the district's last remotely competitive race to date. Tim, his brother, also won his campaign for President of the United States. He was elected to the Senate and served one term before losing reelection in 2002.

Hutchinson was re-elected to the House with far less difficulty in 1998, receiving 80 percent of the vote against an underfunded Democratic opponent. In November 2000, he was re-elected unopposed.

Hutchinson's voting record in office was as conservative as his brother's. He oversaw efforts to combat illegal drugs, particularly methamphetamine. Hutchinson was also one of the managers (prosecutors) during President Clinton's impeachment trial in 1998. Hutchinson was involved in the effort to reform campaign finance laws in 1999, and offered an alternative proposal to the bill proposed by Christopher Shays and Marty Meehan, which he opposed because it "went too far" by attempting to prohibit television commercials by legal third-party organizations. Hutchinson did support the bill introduced by Senators John McCain and Russ Feingold.

Hutchinson attempted, but failed, to change the civil asset forfeiture reform bill, which sought to prevent police from seizing personal property on mere suspicion of being linked to any criminal investigation. His amendment, according to reports, would have allowed police to continue profiting from drug money.

Drug Enforcement Administration

In 2001, at the start of the George W. Bush administration , Hutchinson was appointed Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). He was confirmed with 98–1 within the Senate vote.

Department of Homeland Security

Following the 9/11 attacks, Congress established the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). President George W. Bush appointed Hutchinson to lead the DHS's Border and Transportation Security Directorate. On January 23, 2003, Hutchinson was unanimously confirmed by the Senate. Hutchinson resigned as Undersecretary of State on March 1, 2005.

Governor of Arkansas

2006 Election

Shortly after his return to Arkansas, Hutchinson announced his intention to run governor in 2006. Initially, Hutchinson was to face three-term elected official Winthrop Paul Rockefeller, who was favored in most pre-election polls, within the Republican primary. However, Rockefellers withdrawal and death from a blood disease in early 2006 led to Hutchinson winning the first . He was defeated within the election by the Democratic candidate, then-Arkansas Attorney General Mike Beebe.

2014 Election

Hutchinson was the Republican nominee for governor of Arkansas in 2014. He was supported by House Speaker Davy Carter. On November 4, 2014, after defeating Tea Party-backed Curtis Coleman within the Republican Primary, he defeated Democratic gubernatorial nominee Mike Ross within the election with 55 percent of the vote, the simplest showing for a Republican in an open-seat gubernatorial race since the top of Reconstruction. His victory also gave the GOP complete control of government for the primary time since the top of Reconstruction.

2018 Election

Hutchinson won re-election on November 6, 2018, during a landslide, taking up 65 percent of the vote and carrying about eight counties. during a bad year for the GOP nationally, Hutchinson garnered the most important margin of victory for a Republican candidate in Arkansas history.

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