Politics
Illustration: Mark Marturello/The Des Moines Register
PARTY: Republican
BORN: August 24, 1955 in Hope, Arkansas
What he’s got: Affability, humor, and folksy charm galore; arguably the best communication skills—on TV, on the stump, or in retail settings—of any Republican 2016er; executive experience as a two-term-plus Arkansas governor; demonstrated presidential vote-getting capacity as winner of the Iowa caucuses and overall delegate runner-up in the 2008 GOP nomination contest; high name recognition among Republicans due to that campaign and more than six years afterward as a Fox News host, syndicated radio personality, and author; status as an ordained Southern Baptist minister and adamant social conservative views that provide him with deep ties to, and a base of support within, the evangelical community.
What he lacks: Establishment support; national security credentials; convincing defenses of elements of his Arkansas record (on taxes and prisoner clemency, for example) that make him vulnerable to conservative attacks; enthusiasm for, or even tolerance of, asking rich people for money; a path to the Republican nomination that doesn’t involve a repeat victory in Iowa; proven appeal to voters beyond his core of evangelical supporters; ability to conceal the Gibraltar-sized chip on his shoulder regarding his treatment by much of his party and the mainstream media.
Governor Mike Huckabee shoots a basketball with students from Booker T. Washington Math and Science Magnet School during the Arkansas State Fair in Little Rock on Friday, Oct. 6, 2000. Photograph by: AP Photo/Spencer Tirey
Huckabee with Sesame Street’s Elmo and Rosita at the National Governors Association’s Healthy America Forum and Winter Meeting in Washington, D.C., on February 26, 2006. Photograph by: AP Photo/Charles Dharapak
Huckabee plays with his band, Capitol Offense, as an Elvis impersonator sings a rendition of “Johnny B. Good” at the Iowa Straw Poll in Ames, Iowa, on August 11, 2007. Photograph by: AP Photo/David Lienemann
Huckabee signs copies of his book at the 2011 Republican Leadership Conference on June 16, 2011 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Photograph by: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Huckabee speaks to a group of American Evangelical Christian tourists and pilgrims during a visit to the ancient hilltop fortress of Masada in Israel’s Judean desert, on February 19, 2015. Photograph by: David Vaaknin for The Washington Post via Getty Images
Huckabee holds his grandson Chandler at his presidential campaign launch event in Hope, Arkansas on May 5, 2015. Photograph by: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Huckabee speaks at the first annual Roast and Ride, a Republican outreach event hosted by Senator Joni Ernst in Boone, Iowa, on June 6, 2015. Photograph by: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Huckabee embraces his daughter, Sarah, before leaving the governor’s mansion for an early run in Little Rock, Arkansas, on September 6, 2006. Photograph by: Michael Stravato/The New York Times
Huckabee Pal: Iowans Care About “Religious Liberty”
Bob Vander Plaats, an Iowa conservative leader and friend of Mike Huckabee, emphasizes Huckabee’s likability factor and his ability to get voter support in the state during the 2016 election.
“I’m someone who did it wrong for 47 years, digging my grave with a knife and fork.”
- On his eating habits.
“If the Democrats want to insult the women of America by making them believe that they are helpless without Uncle Sugar coming in and providing for them a prescription each month for birth control because they cannot control their libido or their reproductive system without the help of the government, then so be it.”
- In January 2014.
“Beyoncé is such a mega-talent. She can do anything. I mean she’s got the pipes to sing, she’s got the moves to dance. She does not have to be vulgar to set a trend.”
- To Jon Stewart on Beyoncé.
“It won’t stop until there are no more churches, until there are no more people who are spreading the gospel.”
- On the gay rights movement in April 2015.
“Sure you’ve got to clean up any fraud, and deal with that. But to assume that anyone who is disabled is really fraudulent: I think that’s an insult to a person.”
- On limiting social security disability benefits.
“Our goal is not just to say,‘Let’s not use the resources.’ Let’s use them in a way that empowers people to live the best life they can possibly live.”
- On environmental responsibility in 2015.
In 2004, Huckabee lost 110 pounds.
Wife
Janet McCain Huckabee
Unsuccessfully ran to be Arkansas’ Secretary of State in 2002.
Children
John Mark Huckabee, Son
David Huckabee, Son
Parents
Mae Huckabee, Mother (1925-1999)
