Sanders focuses on freedom, stopping the federal government as governor of Arkansas – Times Record

Sarah Huckabee Sanders running for governor of Arkansas

Former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced that she is running for governor of Arkansas.

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As part of her Freedom Tour, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, press secretary for former President Donald Trump and candidate for Arkansas governor,visited the Fort Smith Riverfront Amphitheatre to speak to a packed crowd about how she will use the office to defend the state from the "radical left in Washington D.C."

During her speech, Sanders shared her experience growing up in Arkansas, working with Trump and raising three children. She said being the mother of young children and working in Washington D.C. has prepared her to deal with any "chaos."

Prior to the event, the Times Record spoke with Sanders about issues facing the state.

Sanders doesn't agree with current Gov. Asa Hutchinson that Act 1002, which bans local school boards from allowing mask mandates, is overreach by the Legislature. She wasn't clear whether schools should require masks or not.

"There's nothing more local than a parent being able to make a decision about what's best for their kid. I think the more we can empower parents to make a decision about what's best for kids in consultation with medical professionals that is what we should be doing," Sanders said.

In various media outlets, Sanders has written op-eds encouragingpeople to get vaccinated.

Like her opponent in the Republican Primary, Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, Sanders has promised to phase out the state income tax. According to the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, the state income tax generates $3 billion a year, which is half the revenue for the general fund. The general fund helps the state pay for education, prisons, Department of Human Services and part of AR Works, the state's health insurance program that allows lower-income families to get private health insurance.

To make sure the state doesn't lose these critical services, Sanders said she will make government more efficient to pay for the tax cuts. Sanders said like Louisiana, Arkansas could save between $50 million to $70 million a year by modernizing technology and said she would get rid of "duplicate programs" across agencies.

"One of the things we've got to start doing is quit allowing government to grow exponentially, we have to rein that in and that'll be a big piece of the puzzle in order to phase out the income tax," Sanders said.

Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas governor, said regardless of who wins,they will need to address the shrinking population in the ruralparts of the state.Huckabee cited urbanization as the reason for the shrinking population in those areas. Huckabee said living in urban areas makes it easier for people to access important resources like schools, hospitals and airports.

"It has been happening now for quite some time and a lot of it has to do with the mechanization of farming, which used to require extraordinary amounts of manual labor. Now, it's done with machinery, and that is what's changed," Huckabee said.

Huckabee said it is important to get broadband internet into rural areas to attract higher earners to the rural parts of the state.

"It's got be an effort to repurpose how rural Arkansas can be viable and making it possible for people to work from home now and for the foreseeable future," Huckabee said.

Diane Senica, owner of One Eyed Possum Production, moved from San Diego to vote for Sanders.

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"I like how she is very relatable and focused on local issues but also national issues and how she is going to make a change," Senica said.

Many of the attendees the Times Record spoke to before the event said they feel they can trust Sanders because of the work she did as press secretary for Trump.

The attendees who are registered to vote in the Republican primary did say it will be difficult to choose between Sanders and Rutledge. Few of the voters said the endorsement of Trump who has come out for Sanders will play a role in who they vote for.

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Sanders focuses on freedom, stopping the federal government as governor of Arkansas - Times Record