Speaker's Profile

Governor Asa Hutchinson is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who is the 46th and current governor of Arkansas. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the U.S. attorney for the Fort Smith-based Western District of Arkansas (1982–1985), U.S. representative for Arkansas's 3rd congressional district (1997–2001), administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (2001–2003) and the first undersecretary for border and transportation security at the United States Department of Homeland Security (2003–2005).

In 2006, Hutchinson was the Republican nominee for governor of Arkansas, but was defeated by Democratic nominee Mike Beebe, the outgoing state attorney general. In 2014, Hutchinson was again the Republican nominee for the governorship, this time winning the election by defeating Democratic U.S. Representative Mike Ross. He was reelected in 2018 with nearly two-thirds of the vote. Hutchinson is barred by term limits from seeking reelection for Arkansas governor in 2022 and beyond.

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

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