Today we celebrate Juneteenth as the end of slavery in the United States. We recognize the struggle that African Americans continue to have as we work for a more equitable society, with liberty and justice for all.
Today we celebrate Juneteenth as the end of slavery in the United States. We recognize the struggle that African Americans continue to have as we work for a more equitable society, with liberty and justice for all.
We owe Gov. Asa Hutchinson our congratulations and sincere expression of appreciation for the masterful job he has done in handling the coronavirus pandemic in Arkansas.
We owe Gov. Asa Hutchinson our congratulations and sincere expression of appreciation for the masterful job he has done in handling the coronavirus pandemic in Arkansas. He has faced this major challenge head-on, and has displayed great leadership and wise choices in the decisions he has made, including his selection of the people he has surrounded himself with. The end result is that he has displayed a calm, confident, determined approach throughout the two-and-a-half months he has been battling COVID-19.
This has contributed greatly to the feeling of security and trust the people of Arkansas have toward him. His daily press conferences have reinforced their feelings because he has conducted them in a concise, professional manner, fielding the questions directed to him and ably passing off the others to Dr. Nate Smith, Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Health. At other press conferences, he has brought in other knowledgeable, very capable people, such as Dr. Cam Patterson, Chancellor of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, to address the questions posed to them by the press.
The first known case of COVID-19 in Arkansas was reported on March 11th of this year. The governor declared a public health emergency to facilitate and coordinate the state’s multi-agency response to the pandemic. He did not have a knee-jerk reaction to address the steps to be taken to combat the virus. He addressed the complexities involved in fighting a very dangerous virus, first protecting the people from a health standpoint, and then addressing the threatened effect on our businesses, where they could be closed down, creating a very heavy economic burden on their employees and the state of Arkansas. He did not issue directives immediately to close down businesses, but did it later when he determined that steps had to be taken to stop people from gathering in crowds that contributed to the spread of the virus through social contact, such as bars, restaurants, bowling alleys and health clubs.
He also limited the size of crowds at any location, which essentially closed churches, concerts, sporting events and many businesses because they attracted large crowds. His intent was to cause temporary closures for limited periods of time, which he committed to ease once the spread of COVID-19 was brought under control.
During this time, Asa also promoted social distancing, wearing of face masks, washing of hands, and staying at home as much as possible. It is strongly believed that these actions have played a major role in the success this state has experienced in controlling COVID-19, providing much better results than some states that employed more radical approaches in their efforts to stop the virus. The governor has achieved this success in spite of being blind-sided by a large number of people in our state prison system having the virus, as well as in the federal prison in St. Francis County, along with a significant number of people in nursing homes throughout the state of Arkansas, including patients and staff members, which caused dramatic increases in all of the various COVID-19 related statistics.
After absorbing these numbers initially, Arkansas slowed the growth of the coronavirus in Arkansas, with drops in the rate of infection, the number of people in our hospitals, the ones requiring ventilators and the ones dying.
Asa has instituted a very active testing program aimed at spotting the people who have the virus and getting them treatment and eliminating many others from consideration. He set a goal of 60,000 Arkansans to be tested in May and has surpassed that number. He has further set a goal of testing everybody in nursing homes, including residents and staff members, which will total more than 40,000 people, during June. This intensive testing, when combined with contact tracing, will help them identify prospective hot spots and enable them to have more effective treatment and prevention.
Recently, Gov. Hutchinson started moving Arkansas back to normal, which will be a new normal, by approving the opening of businesses that have been closed and bringing them back into the economy. He actively pursued getting both state and federal dollars to provide relief to businesses that had closed, or were operating on a limited basis, as well as employees who had lost their jobs as businesses closed. Businesses are reopening and employees are going back to work, but there is still a long way to go. Asa is convinced that there will be a second wave of the virus that will hit us before we escape its grasp and believes that we may be seeing that happening at present.
Numbers of new cases are rising, which drives other numbers up, so that could very well be happening. Others have suggested that there will be a second wave, but they are predicting it could happen in August or September.
Whatever is happening right now could very well be the beginning of that second wave in Arkansas, but we do not know that for sure. What we do know is that we do not know a lot of things about COVID-19. We do not know exactly how much exposure it takes to infect an individual. We do not know how many people secretly have the virus, but do not show it. We do not know for certain that once people have the virus, they are immune to it from that time forward, though evidence is accumulating to support that theory. Lastly, we know that there is no vaccine that will protect us from the coronavirus available on the market today. That is the only sure thing to eliminate this disease and that is where our hopes and prayers should be concentrated.
We do know that we as individuals must play a major role in what happens from now forward. We owe our governor and the many heroes on the front line who got us to where we are today, to use good judgment in our daily lives. If we ignore social distancing, if we do not wash our hands, or do not wear face masks, or congregate in places where we know we are placing ourselves at
risk, or if we decide not to stay at home when we know that we should, we could very well find ourselves in as bad or worse of a situation than we find ourselves in today, and that would be terribly unfair to those who have worked so hard to get us to this point.
Let’s pause and remember our strong feelings of appreciation we feel for Asa and his people for what they have done to get us to where we are today and not even think of doing those things that can cause us to slide backward to where we came from. We are blessed as a state to have Asa as our governor during these trying times, we have trusted and followed him to this point and we should follow him as he leads us into the new normal.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson remains immensely popular in Arkansas for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and his response to recent social unrest.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson remains immensely popular in Arkansas for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and his response to recent social unrest. His latest policy move bucks public sentiment and may dent his approval, but he has room to fall.
A new Talk Business & Politics-Hendrix College survey shows Hutchinson with a job approval rating three times higher than his disapproval rating. The poll was taken on Tuesday, June 9 and Wednesday, June 10 of 869 statewide likely voters and has a margin of error of +/-3.3%.
Q: Do you approve or disapprove of the job that Asa Hutchinson is doing as Governor?
62% Approve
19% Disapprove
19% Unsure
“Many governors across the nation have gotten high marks for their handling of COVID-19 and Hutchinson is no exception. Due to the timing of this poll, I would argue that he is being rewarded for his steadiness in the wake of the George Floyd protests, too,” said Roby Brock, Talk Business & Politics Editor-in-Chief.
Hutchinson had a 61%-19% approval rating in the November 2019 Arkansas Poll. He had an 80%-14% job approval in late March 2020 roughly two weeks into the coronavirus pandemic in Arkansas, according to a poll conducted by Little Rock-based Impact Management Group.
While the popular Republican governor has navigated the coronavirus crisis with strong consensus, he is out of the mainstream in his decision on Tuesday to move the state’s economy to Phase Two opening.
Q: Thinking about the state’s restrictions on business due to the coronavirus pandemic, do you think Gov. Hutchinson is lifting restrictions too quickly, lifting restrictions too slowly, or handling restrictions about right?
44% About right
32% Too quickly
20% Too slowly
4% Unsure
“The call to reopen the state’s economy more urgently is only supported by one in five voters. The governor does risk a lot of political capital if the pandemic situation spirals further out of control. We’ve seen a huge rise in cases in Phase One, so this move to Phase Two is going to be a test for his leadership as well as public safety,” Brock said.
This latest Talk Business & Politics-Hendrix College poll will release more results over the next four days, including:
ANALYSIS
Dr. Jay Barth, emeritus professor of politics at Hendrix College, helped craft and analyze the latest poll. He offered this analysis of the poll results:
“Throughout over five years as governor, Asa Hutchinson’s performance has remained overwhelmingly approved by Arkansas voters. During the last three months his governorship has been dominated by the COVID-19 crisis and unrest across the state in response to the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. Arkansas voters have continued to value his leadership during this highly visible period of his governorship with over six in ten voters approving of his job performance during this period. What is most telling is his strong standing among Arkansans who do not identify as Republicans; over 40% of Democrats and over 60% of Independents approve of his performance during this period when Hutchinson has given daily briefings. While Hutchinson’s standing is consistent across most demographic groups, there is a strong relationship between age and approval of the governor; the youngest voters are most likely to be critical of the governor’s performance while over three in four of those 65 or older approve of it.
“Our survey was completed just as Governor Hutchinson announced his decision for the entire state to shift to Phase Two of the reopening of the state’s economy. The results of the poll suggest that the Governor may have gotten a bit out in front of public opinion on this issue as only one in five voters think that the state was moving too slowly in its reopening. A plurality of voters (44%) felt that the reopening was happening at the right pace, while just over three in ten felt that the reopening was occurring too quickly considering the public health risks.
“Some interesting patterns show themselves across political and demographic subgroups. Republicans are the group most likely to approve that Hutchinson’s approach to date has been correct but also to feel that reopening should happen more quickly. Over 60% of Democrats, however, feel that the reopening has been occurring too briskly. Younger voters (those under 45) also are more likely to state that reopening has been occurring too quickly. A subtle gender gap also shows itself on this issue; while similar pluralities of women and men voice support for the current pace of reopening, more women support slowing the pace while more men favor quickening the reopening of the state’s economy.”
Robert Coon, managing partner with Impact Management Group, also helped craft and analyze the latest poll. He offered this analysis of the poll results:
“Gov. Asa Hutchinson continues to maintain broad approval among Arkansas voters (62%). Hutchinson’s popularity is anchored by Republican voters, 79% of whom approve of the job he’s doing compared to only 10% who disapprove. Hutchinson has strong support among Independents (64% approve), while a plurality of Democrats approve of the job he’s doing (43%). Notably, Hutchinson has nearly the same level of approval from white voters (63%) as he does among black voters (57%). Hutchinson’s ability to appeal to voters across both party and racial lines explain why he consistently polls as one of the top governors in the country.
“Overall, 44% of Arkansas voters believe Governor Hutchinson is handling restrictions on business related to coronavirus ‘about right,’ but there are measurable differences across several demographics – specifically age and party. A plurality (45%) of voters under the age of 45 believe that the governor is opening businesses ‘too quickly.’ Conversely, among voters over the age of 45 the predominant view is that he’s handling things ‘about right’ (49%). Along party lines, 63% of Democrats believe the state is moving ‘too quickly,’ compared to only 8% of Republicans and 30% of Independents who share the same view. While the Governor has gotten pressure in recent weeks to speed up the reopening process from members of his own party, more than half of Republican voters (53%) surveyed indicated he’s handled things ‘about right.’ Overall, only 1 in 5 (20%) voters surveyed said that the state was lifting restrictions ‘too slowly.’ With the governor’s announcement that Arkansas will be moving to Phase Two, and the recent increases in both positive cases and hospitalizations, it will be interesting to see whether voters view that decision as a continuation of the right speed, or a step too fast.”
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s (R) approval rating of 58% is the ninth highest in the country, as is true for every politician voted into office across all levels of government, approval ratings are very important to governors.
Who are the most and least popular governors in America? Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s (R) approval rating of 58% is the ninth highest in the country, reports Financial news Website 247wallst.com. 24/7 reviewed public opinion data from research company Morning Consult to rank America’s governors by popularity. Click HERE to read the full article and HERE to see the states where the most (and fewest) people vote in the primaries.
As is true for every politician voted into office across all levels of government, approval ratings are very important to governors – both for political clout and, for those who are up for re-election, job security.
Governor approval ratings are based on survey data collected during the fourth quarter of 2019 and range from 32% to 69%. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves were not included on this list, because they assumed office after the survey was conducted.
10 Most Popular Governors
10 Least Popular Governors
Click HERE to see the full list of America’s most and least popular governors.
Governor Asa Hutchinson held a news conference at 4 p.m. today to discuss the weekend protests in Arkansas and across the nation.
Governor Asa Hutchinson held a news conference at 4 p.m. today to discuss the weekend protests in Arkansas and across the nation.
