The 2022 Arkansas gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Arkansas. Incumbent Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson was term-limited and could not seek re-election to a third term. Republican Sarah Huckabee Sanders, daughter of former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, defeated Democrat Chris Jones to become the first woman ever elected to the office, and was sworn in on January 10, 2023. Primary elections in Arkansas were held on May 24. Runoff elections for instances where no candidate receives over 50% of the vote were scheduled for June 21. Former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders won the Republican nomination, while Chris Jones won the Democratic nomination. Leading up to the Republican Primary, Sanders received many endorsements from key Republican figures, including Donald Trump, Mike Pence, incumbent Asa Hutchinson, Arkansas' entire U.S. Congressional delegation, and dozens of GOP representatives from the State House and State Senate. She cruised to a landslide victory in the primary, and as Arkansas is a GOP stronghold, her victory virtually guaranteed she would win the general election, in which she defeated Jones by 28 points. Jones became the first Democrat to win Washington County since 2010, and Sanders became the first Republican to win majority-Black Crittenden County since her father in 1998. This is the first time ever that a Republican won three straight gubernatorial elections in the state's history. Sanders became the first female Governor of Arkansas, as well as the first daughter of a former governor to take office in United States history. In addition, with the election of Leslie Rutledge as lieutenant governor, Arkansas, along with Massachusetts, became the first two U.S. states to have both a female governor and female lieutenant Governor serving at the same time. Republican primary Candidates Nominee Sarah Huckabee Sanders, former White House press secretary (2017–2019) and daughter of former Governor Mike Huckabee Eliminated in primary Francis "Doc" Washburn, radio personality Withdrew Tim Griffin, lieutenant governor of Arkansas (2015–2023) (ran for attorney general) (endorsed Sanders) Leslie Rutledge, Arkansas attorney general (2015–2023) (ran for lieutenant governor) (endorsed Sanders) Endorsements Polling Results Democratic primary Candidates Nominee Chris Jones, nuclear engineer, MIT graduate, and former executive director of the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub Eliminated in primary Anthony Bland, public school teacher and nominee for lieutenant governor in 2018 James "Rus" Russell, small business owner Supha Xayprasith-Mays, entrepreneur Jay Martin, lawyer and former Majority Leader of