Former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders raised $4.8 million for her Arkansas gubernatorial campaign since launching her bid in late January.
Sanders’s campaign said it drew more than 34,700 donors over two months, and 90 percent of the contributions were for $100 or less. More than $1.5 million of the total haul was from Arkansans.
“I am grateful for the generous support of so many Arkansans – in 60 days we held over 50 events in Arkansas and received more than 6,500 donations across all 75 counties of the state. Our message of limiting government and advancing education and opportunity is clearly resonating,” Sanders said in a press release.
“With the radical left in control of Washington, our governors are our last line of defense,” she added. “I will be on the front line of the fight for freedom and am encouraged to have so many friends across our state and country standing with us.”
The fundraising haul comes after former President Trump endorsed her the day she launched her campaign on Jan. 25. Trump won Arkansas by more than 26 points in 2016 and 2020.
Sanders, whose father, Mike Huckabee, is a former Arkansas governor, is the early front-runner in the race to replace outgoing Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R).
Sanders in her campaign launch tied herself closely to Trump touting her ability to take on the media as press secretary.
“I took on the media, the radical left and their cancel culture, and I won,” Sanders said in her campaign launch announcement. “As governor, I will be your voice and never let them silence you.”
While Arkansas has a history of electing Democratic governors, the state has leaned to the right in recent years. The winner of the GOP primary therefore, will most likely be the favorite to take the governor’s mansion in November 2022.