Jared Henderson of Little Rock, the former executive director for the nonprofit Teach for America group in Arkansas, announced Tuesday that he is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor next year.
Henderson, 39, is the first Democrat to announce his 2018 bid for his party's nomination for governor. It will be his first run for elected office.
"I do think I can win this race. I know it is a very high cliff to climb, but nothing is impossible in politics," he said.
Henderson recruited college graduates and professionals to teach in low-income areas as Teach for America's executive director in Arkansas for four years until June. He was the group's senior vice president of regional operations for the previous two years. He and his wife, Melanie Prince, own a medical practice.
He voted in the Democratic primaries in Pulaski County in 2016 and in Washington County in 2000, and voted in the Republican primary in Washington County in 1998, according to the secretary of state's records requested about his voting history. He said Tuesday that he doesn't recall why, as a 20-year-old college student, he voted in the Republican primary in 1998, but he always has voted for the best candidate.
Henderson declined to call himself a moderate, liberal or progressive Democrat.
"My philosophy in this campaign is I am going to run with integrity," Henderson said. "I am going to speak as concretely and as authentically as I can on ideas and when they bleed over into what someone might call conservative or they bleed over into what someone might call as progressive, then they can define me however they want. I honestly don't place myself on that spectrum that much because I think it is obsolete, frankly."
He said he's running for governor because "by the time my son is an adult, I think Arkansas could have one of the most dynamic economies in the country and an exemplary public education system held up against anyone else.
"We need to shoot beyond incremental progress. I think this is a good moment and this office and this platform offers a great chance to run and push the envelope on those ideas," Henderson said in an interview at the state Democratic Party headquarters before his announcement.
State Democratic Party Chairman Michael John Gray of Augusta said he hasn't had any substantive discussions with other Democrats who are considering running for the party's gubernatorial nomination next year. He observed that the filing period is from Feb. 22-March 1.
Henderson said he doesn't know whether he will have a Democratic opponent in the May 22 primary.
Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson told reporters, "I welcome the candidate to the race. I expect there might be more.
"There very well could be more. I think it's important to take that a step at a time. It is a political season, and I'm not going to take anything for granted, but I'm working very hard and look forward to getting to know the opponent and what their ideas are," said Hutchinson, who was elected governor in 2014.
In his latest campaign-finance report, Hutchinson reported having $1.55 million in his campaign treasury through the end of September.
Hot Springs Republican Jan Morgan, the owner of the Gun Cave shooting range, formed a committee in October to explore running for governor. She has filed a campaign-finance report showing that she raised$14,094 in contributions and spent $1,885.60 in the period Oct. 13-31, leaving $12,208.40 in the bank.
In June, Libertarian Mark West, a pastor in Batesville, announced his candidacy for governor. He's not filed any campaign reports yet.
Henderson said he wants Arkansas to set a goal to be the most attractive state in the nation to a teacher within the next decade. He would like to help teachers by reducing their paperwork, celebrating their profession and making successful teachers "in our highest-need schools" household names. Henderson also would like to substantially raise teachers' salaries over time.
He said he wants to make small-business and entrepreneurship training "a core accessible part of our high school curriculum" and available to young adults through the community colleges or other means to promote rural economic development. He said he also wants to work with communities to reduce the state's teenage pregnancy rate in a way consistent with local values to help reduce childhood poverty.
Henderson said he supports the state's version of Medicaid expansion that provides private health insurance to roughly 300,000 Arkansans, but he wants to pay more attention to trying to rein in the skyrocketing cost of health insurance premiums.
As for charter schools, "for me, the biggest opportunity in our current charter school landscape is we just need to be rigorous and tough about accountability," he said.
Henderson said he wants abortion to be as rare as possible, "but early in the pregnancy and certainly in cases of rape or incest or [danger to] the health of the mother, I think the woman ought to be able to make the decision with her doctor and her family and her minister."
He said he doesn't know whether he would have vetoed the law signed by Hutchinson to allow concealed-carry permit holders to carry guns on college campuses with up to eight hours of enhanced training, "but I don't think it was right to overrule the local will on this one."
Information for this article was contributed by Andy Davis of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Metro on 12/13/2017