Sarah Huckabee Sanders Gets 2028 Presidential Push From Donors After Arkansas Re-Election

Republican donors and supporters have been urging Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders to run for president in 2028, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the outreach.

Asked about the encouragement, Sanders’ communications director, Sam Dubke, told ABC News that “Governor Sanders looks forward to serving the people of Arkansas for the next four years.”

The push comes just days after Sanders won re-election as governor. She is the daughter of Mike Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor and Republican presidential candidate who now serves as U.S. ambassador to Israel.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ Political Rise: From White House Press Secretary to Arkansas Governor

Sanders became the first woman elected governor of Arkansas in 2022. Before that, she served as President Donald Trump’s press secretary during his first term, from July 2017 to June 2019, after working as deputy press secretary. She was also a senior adviser to his 2016 presidential campaign.

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She held formal briefings for the White House press corps less often than her predecessors. Even so, she worked for Trump in the White House for 3½ years and became one of his closest and most trusted advisers. She has kept that relationship since.

Within the party, Sanders has long been seen as a rising star. In 2023, a few months after winning her first race for governor, she delivered the Republican response to then-President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, a speech typically given to figures viewed as on the rise.

2028 Republican Presidential Field: Brian Kemp and Ron DeSantis Weigh Their Options

Sanders is not the only Republican governor drawing attention. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a popular two-term Republican who is retiring, is considering a presidential bid after he leaves office in January, a source familiar with his thinking told ABC News. Donors and other Republican officials have encouraged him to run.

In the days before the midterms, Kemp traveled to South Carolina, one of the early nominating states for Republicans, to campaign for Gov.-elect Alan Wilson.

Outgoing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is also keeping his options open for another presidential run, according to two people familiar with his thinking who spoke with ABC News. DeSantis has said Florida fended off a blue wave in this year’s midterms.

Republican Midterm Losses: Ted Cruz and Ron DeSantis React to Election Results

After the party’s midterm losses, Republicans are reflecting on what went wrong and how to move forward, and some of those conversations are happening in public.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who has not ruled out a 2028 presidential run, called the party’s midterm performance a “Watergate-level repudiation.”

DeSantis described the results as a “meteor strike,” arguing that even a “wave” fails to capture the scale of the Republican losses.