Mike Huckabee

Mike Huckabee was born on August 24, 1955. After graduating magna cum laude from Ouachita Baptist University with a degree in religion, he went into the seminary, but left in 1976 to work in Christian broadcasting as a staffer for James Robison. He became a pastor in 1980, serving in that role for two different churches until 1992. During that time, he was President of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention from 1989 to 1991.

When Bill Clinton left the governorship of Arkansas to become president, Lieutenant Governor Tucker stepped up to fill the vacancy. Huckabee entered and won the 1992 special election for Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas, and was re-elected in 1994. During his time as lieutenant governor, he opposed several of Governor Tucker s initiatives and referendums, showing himself to be more in line with popular opinion

In May 1996 Tucker resigned, having been convicted “on one count of arranging nearly $3 million in fraudulent loans.” Huckabee, who was at that point running a promising campaign for Senator, decided to drop out and take the post of Governor of Arkansas.

Huckabee completed that term and won re-election for another two terms. While governor, he focused on children s health with several initiatives, one of which was creating a program to provide insurance to children whose families could not afford private insurance, but made too much to qualify for Medicaid. He helped cut taxes, fund major road reconstruction, and fund improvements to the Arkansas park system. Governing Magazine named him as one of its ‘Public Officials of the Year’ for 2005, the same year Time Magazine honored him as one of the five best governors in America.

In January 2007, after his last term as governor finished, Huckabee announced that he was running for the Republican nomination for President of the United States. Most people outside of his state and the Southeast region did not know who he was, so Huckabee went out among the public and spoke often. His strong and open Christian views drew a mixed blend of support and criticism. Many of the far-right fundamentalists of the party found inspiration and hope that at last there was a man who heard, recognized, and understood their views and would fight for what they believed to be right. Some in the center found some of Huckabee s statements about changing the Constitution to acknowledge the supremacy of God quite worrying.

Going into the primaries, Huckabee was making a strong showing against such well known candidates as John McCain, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, and Rudy Giuliani. Huckabee won the Iowa caucus, placed third in New Hampshire and Michigan, second in South Carolina, and fourth in Florida. He went on to win West Virginia, Alabama, Arkansas, and Georgia in the Super Tuesday primaries, followed by wins in Kansas and Louisiana. However, by that point most of the candidates had dropped out and McCain had the number of delegates that would assure his victory. Huckabee dropped out of the race in March of 2008.

Huckabee has been quite busy since. He almost immediately landed spots on Fox News and ABC Radio. His weekend show Huckabee is Sunday night s top rated cable TV show. In a June Poll, Huckabee was shown to be in a three way tie with Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin for the 2012 Republican nomination.