Hutchinson to pick new securities commissioner

Heath Abshure, director of the Arkansas Securities Commission, is questioned by the Joint Performance Review Committee for exchanging fines for charitable contributions to an organization he leads, in this January 2014 photo.
Heath Abshure, director of the Arkansas Securities Commission, is questioned by the Joint Performance Review Committee for exchanging fines for charitable contributions to an organization he leads, in this January 2014 photo.

The current commissioner of the Arkansas Securities Department has been informed he will not be retained under Gov.-elect Asa Hutchinson's new administration.

J.R. Davis, a spokesman for Hutchinson, said Commissioner Heath Abshure will not continue in the role when Hutchinson takes office next month.

Abshure, 41, said he received a phone call from Hutchinson's office Monday. He had been expecting the news.

"Just looking at the number of other directors and agency heads that have gotten the same sort of message, I just figured my turn was coming," he said, adding that he was glad the "anxiety is over" from not knowing.

Abshure said he wasn't told anything about his successor. He said he's excited about a "couple of different options" in his future, but it's a "little too early to tell" what his next step will be.

Davis said he had no information about the successor or when an announcement would be made, though he said Hutchinson is likely to make some appointment announcements this week.

Abshure was appointed by Gov. Mike Beebe in November 2007, succeeding Gov. Mike Huckabee appointee Michael Johnson. Before becoming commissioner, Abshure was a partner in a Little Rock law firm Williams and Anderson and a staff attorney for the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C.

He did not immediately return a message seeking comment early Tuesday afternoon.

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