William Asa Hutchinson II (/ˈeɪsə/, AY-sə; born December 3, 1950) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served as the 46th governor of Arkansas from 2015 to 2023.

In 1982, President Ronald Reagan appointed Hutchinson to serve as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, which covers most of Fort Smith.

Senator Dale Bumpers, before losing a race for Attorney General of Arkansas to Winston Bryant four years later.

He made national headlines after successfully prosecuting The Covenant, The Sword, and The Arm of the Lord (CSA), a white supremacist organization founded by polygamist James Ellison.

[5] It was a good year for Democrats, and Hutchinson fared worse than Bumpers's previous Senate challenger, Little Rock investment banker William P. "Bill" Clark.

Hutchinson then became co-chair, with Sheffield Nelson, of the Arkansas Republican Party, a position he held from 1991 through 1995, the last four years as full chair.

In 1992 Hutchinson's brother, Tim, was elected to Congress in Arkansas's third congressional district, when veteran U.S. Representative John Paul Hammerschmidt retired.

Hutchinson, who had at first decided to run for an open seat in the Arkansas House of Representatives from Sebastian County, defeated Ann Henry, a longtime friend of Bill and Hillary Clinton, in November 1996.

Although Henry outspent Hutchinson during the campaign, the district's heavy Republican tilt and his brother Tim's presence atop the ballot helped Asa win with 52% of the vote.

In 1999, Hutchinson was involved in the effort to reform campaign finance laws and offered an alternative proposal to the bill by Christopher Shays and Marty Meehan, which he opposed on the grounds that it "went too far" by attempting to ban television commercials by legal third-party organizations.

[7] Hutchinson unsuccessfully tried to modify the civil asset forfeiture reform bill that sought to prevent police abuse of its power to seize private property on mere suspicion of being linked to any criminal investigation.

[12] Hutchinson ended his contract with Venable LLP in March 2006 to focus on his gubernatorial campaign and his consulting firm in Little Rock.

[16][17][18] He told the Associated Press he agreed to join the task force because he believed it was "something important for our national security and our war on terrorism."

Led by Hutchinson, the group's stated goal was to produce a comprehensive plan to address the safety of children in schools and to prevent such shootings in the future.

Initially, he was to face three-term Lieutenant Governor Winthrop Paul Rockefeller, who was favored in most pre-election polls, in the Republican primary.

In a bad year for the GOP nationally, Hutchinson garnered the largest margin of victory for a Republican candidate in Arkansas history.

"[30] On May 8, 2022, Hutchinson responded to comments by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell about potential passage of a future federal law prohibiting abortions nationwide: "If the court reverses Roe v. Wade, they're saying that the Constitution does not provide that, which returns it to the states.

"[31] In 2015, Hutchinson signed into law legislation that would prohibit localities from extending civil rights protections to LGBT individuals.

[32] At the time, Arkansas was among states that allowed discrimination in the workplace, housing and business on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation.

[33] In March 2021, Hutchinson signed into law legislation that would allow doctors to refuse non-emergency medical treatment to LGBT people based on moral objection.

[34] In April 2021, he vetoed a bill that would make it illegal for transgender minors to receive gender-affirming medication or surgery,[35] calling it "a vast government overreach".

[38] While Arkansas was experiencing a wave of COVID-19 cases, he also signed a bill into law that prohibited state and local officials from enacting mask mandates.

[42] Hutchinson demanded that Republicans who tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election and spread Donald Trump's "Big Lie" about mass voter fraud not be put in positions of leadership.

[47] On April 2, 2023, during an interview with ABC News' Jonathan Karl, Hutchinson announced his candidacy for the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries.

[48][49] Toward the beginning of his campaign Hutchinson distinguished himself as a Trump critic, calling for the former president to drop out of the race after being indicted by a New York grand jury.

[53] Hutchinson ultimately decided to sign the pledge,[54] but when candidates were asked during the debate to raise their hand if they would still support Trump as the party's nominee if he were convicted, he and Chris Christie were the only ones not to do so.