NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–Arkansans decided Nov. 5 to keep their governor for a second term in office, but declined to elect his wife to a statewide office.
Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee pulled away from Democrat Jimmie Lou Fisher to secure a second term in office. With 72 percent of precincts reporting the morning of Nov. 6, Huckabee had 53 percent of the vote, compared to Fisher’s 47 percent.
Huckabee’s wife, Janet, failed in her bid to be Arkansas’ next secretary of state. She was soundly defeated by Democrat Charlie Daniels, who garnered 62 percent of the vote.
A former Arkansas Baptist pastor and state convention president, Huckabee served three years as lieutenant governor before assuming the governor’s post.
The Huckabees are members of the Church at Rock Creek in Little Rock, a Southern Baptist congregation, and the governor is a graduate of Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, and his wife attended there as well.
The husband-wife team generated national headlines in October when their daughter and four other OBU students asked a U.S. District Court to allow them the right to vote in the Nov. 5 race.
The students had been blocked from voting in a dispute over residency requirements in Clark County, where OBU is located.
Sarah Huckabee, 20, won the case when Judge George Howard Jr. issued a temporary ruling Oct. 30 allowing the students to vote in the general election.
According to the Clark County Clerk of Court, OBU voters followed the statewide electorate. The governor won 158 votes compared to his opponent’s 118 votes. Huckabee’s wife tallied 122 votes while her opponent won the ward with 147 votes.
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