{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nWilliam \"Asa\" Hutchinson II, former Republican Governor of Arkansas (2015-2023), holds no current elected office and has not filed for any 2026 race [1]. His only appearance on a Tennessee ballot was as a 2024 Republican presidential candidate: he suspended his campaign on January 16, 2024, the morning after finishing sixth in the Iowa caucuses [1][2]. Tennessee's candidate list for the March 5, 2024 presidential preference primary had already been certified in December 2023, so Hutchinson's name remained on the ballot as a withdrawn candidate; Donald Trump won the Tennessee primary outright [3].\n\n## Background and education\nHutchinson was born December 3, 1950, in Bentonville, Arkansas [1]. He earned a B.A. in accounting from Bob Jones University in 1972 and a J.D. from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1975 [1].\n\n## Career\nPresident Ronald Reagan appointed Hutchinson U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas in 1982, a post he held until 1985 [1]. He represented Arkansas' 3rd Congressional District in the U.S. House from 1997 to 2001, then served as Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (2001-2003) under President George W. Bush and as Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security at the newly formed Department of Homeland Security (2003-2005) [1].\n\n## Office history\nHutchinson lost a 2006 bid for Arkansas Governor to Democrat Mike Beebe. He was elected the 46th Governor of Arkansas in 2014 with 55% of the vote and reelected in 2018 with more than 65%, serving from January 13, 2015, to January 10, 2023 [1]. He announced his 2024 presidential campaign on April 2, 2023; coverage of the campaign widely described him as positioning himself as a more traditional conservative alternative to Donald Trump within the Republican field [1][4].\n\n## Family\nHutchinson married Susan Burrell in 1973; they have four children and seven grandchildren [1]. His brother, Tim Hutchinson, is a former U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from Arkansas [1].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [Asa Hutchinson - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asa_Hutchinson) - accessed 2026-07-06\n[2] [Asa Hutchinson suspends presidential campaign - CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/16/politics/asa-hutchinson-suspends-campaign/index.html) - accessed 2026-07-06\n[3] [2024 Tennessee Republican presidential primary - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Tennessee_Republican_presidential_primary) - accessed 2026-07-06\n[4] [Asa Hutchinson drops out of 2024 GOP presidential race after last-place finish in Iowa - CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/asa-hutchinson-drops-out-2024-presidential-race-iowa/) - accessed 2026-07-06","campaigns":[{"contest":"president","county":"Shelby","county_count":1,"electiondate":"Tue, 05 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMT","pgr":"primary","state":"TN","title":"President"}],"cf_filings":[],"firstname":"Asa","fullname":"Asa Hutchinson","lastname":"Hutchinson","office_history":[{"campaigns":[{"contest":"president","contest_title":"President","county":"Shelby","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2024-03-05","office_county":null,"office_key":"president","office_title":"President","party":"R","pgr":"primary","state":"TN"}],"county":null,"cycles":[{"general":null,"party":"R","primary":{"contest":"president","contest_title":"President","county":"Shelby","county_count":1,"electiondate":"2024-03-05","office_county":null,"office_key":"president","office_title":"President","party":"R","pgr":"primary","state":"TN"},"term":null,"year":2024}],"office_key":"president","office_title":"President","state":"TN","terms":[]}],"summary":"Former Republican Governor of Arkansas (2015-2023); ran for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, withdrawing in January 2024 before Tennessee's March primary.","terms":[],"token":"rLAhZz89JF"}