Asa Hutchinson: The Dark Horse Candidate in 2024?

The Republican Primaries are gearing up to be a bit chaotic, with Donald Trump’s indictment taking center stage as a talking point moving forward. Looking at the current polling numbers, Trump leads over other Republican challengers at nearly 50%, Ron DeSantis holds about 30% despite not announcing his candidacy (yet), with the other 20% being split among other Republicans both declared and predicted, with each only receiving between 1-5%. One of the candidates who hope to increase his polling numbers is the former Governor of Arkansas, Asa Hutchinson. Many Americans might respond, Asa who?

Asa Hutchinson has had a long career in public office. Starting as a U.S. attorney in Arkansas during the Reagan Era, he would go on to be a representative for Arkansas from 1997 to 2001, would serve in the Bush Administration as the administrator of the DEA, as well as in the Department of Homeland Security. He became governor of Arkansas in 2015 and served as the leader of the state until early 2023 when he could no longer run due to term limits. He is now eyeing the position of President, confirming his candidacy to ABC News’ Jonathon Karl about two weeks ago.

Knowing that the Republican Primaries are going to be centered around Donald Trump, and with most people agreeing that the only other candidate that has a realistic chance of defeating him is Ron DeSantis, many have questioned whether Hutchinson should even bother trying to run. While popular within his home state, he is essentially an unknown name to the rest of the country, making him a “dark horse candidate,” especially compared to the top two front runners. But Hutchinson isn’t counting himself out just yet.

According to Hutchinson, he plans on running an “Anti-Chaos” strategy that would revolve more around the issues he wants to solve, rather than attacking the other candidates he is competing against. Jonathon Weisman of the New York Times reported on Hutchinson’s ABC interview noting Hutchinson said:

The voters… are talking about things that matter to them, which is the economy, which is the fentanyl crisis that we have, and the relationship and leadership of America on the world stage…They’re asking tough questions, but it’s not about the political dynamics of Trump.

Hutchinson will have to show this to be true by staying on message and improving in the polls.

Having a history of being more moderate, Hutchinson appears to be catering to more old-school style Republicans and pledges that his presidency would be free of drama and legal problems, taking obvious shots at Trump despite saying he was not going to focus on his competitors. In the past, Hutchinson has been known to work alongside Democrats to push bills forward and has fewer conservative views compared to many in the current Republican Party.

Another aspect that Hutchinson hopes to use to his advantage is his persona of being the anti-Trump alternative. During the chaos that was the 2020 election, Hutchinson took a stand against Trump and called for the President to stop spreading lies and misinformation. In his interview with ABC’s Jonathon Karl, Hutchinson acknowledged that while Trump’s indictment was unfair and loose, he expressed that it would still look bad for the Republican Party to move forward with a Trump candidacy because of past problems and subsequent baggage, thus, he is calling for Trump to drop out of the race.

According to Weisman of the New York Times, since Trump likely has more charges looming, “Mr. Hutchinson appears to be betting that external forces will trip up Mr. Trump’s third run for the White House.” Accordingly, Hutchinson seems to be preparing to be well positioned if and when that happens.

While Hutchinson’s strategy of appealing to more moderate voters may work, Trump currently has him beaten in poll numbers, as well as name recognition. In today’s political climate, the more polarizing the candidate is, the more popular they become within their parties, forcing many moderates to fall in line with a divisive political model. Either way, Hutchinson believes he has what it takes to become President of the United States, and with the first debate in August, it will be interesting to see how he stands against the big dogs.