Democrat announces 2018 Arkansas governor bid

LITTLE ROCK—The former head of a nonprofit group that recruits teachers to work in low-income areas said Tuesday he's running against Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson in Arkansas next year, the first Democrat to announce an uphill bid for the solidly red state's top office.

Jared Henderson, the former executive director of the Arkansas branch of Teach for America, said he'll seek the party's nomination to challenge the first term governor. Hutchinson, who was first elected in 2014, announced in May that he was seeking re-election and has reported having $1.5 million on hand for his bid. Teach for America recruits and trains recent college graduates and professionals to teach at schools.

Henderson, 39, acknowledged the challenges he faces running in a state where Republicans control all statewide and federal offices, as well as majorities in both chambers of the Legislature. But he said he believed he has a chance, noting that Arkansas only turned Republican in recent years.

"This state does have a history, and it's not a long-gone history, of voting for Democrats," Henderson told The Associated Press in an interview ahead of his official announcement. "The main way I'm going to run this campaign is I'm going to go all over the state, I'm going to meet with everyone I can sit down with over the next 11 months, look them in the eye, do more listening than I do talking. In Arkansas, we have a record that you can win people's trust if you deserve it."

Read more: http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/arkansas/story/2017/dec/13/democrat-announces-2018-arkansas-governor-bid/704015/