Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge is departing the governor’s race and will instead run for lieutenant governor, she announced Tuesday evening.
“Since announcing my candidacy for governor, I have been blessed by an outpouring of support from Arkansans in every community. At this crossroads in our country’s history, now is a time for Christian conservative leaders to unite and fight together against those who wish to destroy the America we know and love,” Rutledge said in a statement.
Rutledge was vying for the Republican gubernatorial nomination against former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, whom she endorsed in her announcement Tuesday.
“Sarah Sanders has been a friend for many years, and I know that as Governor she will stand strong against the onslaught of the liberal Left’s attack on our home state,” she said.
Rutledge is the seventh candidate to join the race for the state’s number-two job and the sixth Republican.
Read Wednesday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.