Asa Hutchinson 'expects' to make ’14 governor bid

Former U.S. Rep. Asa Hutchinson, R-Ark., speaks Friday, Dec. 21, 2012, at a news conference in Washington, D.C.
Former U.S. Rep. Asa Hutchinson, R-Ark., speaks Friday, Dec. 21, 2012, at a news conference in Washington, D.C.

— Former Rep. Asa Hutchinson says he expects to run for Arkansas governor in 2014.

Hutchinson said Friday that he “fully expects” to seek the Republican Party’s nomination for the state’s top office. Hutchinson is the first Republican to join the race for the state’s top office.

Hutchinson said he expects to make his bid official after finishing his work on a National Rifle Association study on school safety. Hutchinson is a former undersecretary of the federal Department of Homeland Security and served as a U.S. attorney in Arkansas for three years.

Hutchinson ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2006 and lost to Democrat Mike Beebe.

Attorney General Dustin McDaniel is the only announced Democratic candidate for governor, and has faced questions about his political future after admitting an extramarital relationship last month.

Curtis Coleman, a Little Rock Republican and the chairman of the Curtis Coleman Institute for Constitutional Policy, has formed a committee to explore the possibility of running for governor in 2014 and has said he'll announce by this summer whether he intends to run.

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