Huckabee wins in Arkansas, CNN projects
LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (CNN) -- Gov. Mike Huckabee defeated longtime state Treasurer Jimmie Lou Fisher on Tuesday, CNN projected.
Huckabee was leading by double digits in the polls but ran into trouble as Election Day approached. Fisher hammered Huckabee on his parole decisions, including supporting clemency for a rapist facing a murder charge in Missouri, a governor's mansion trusty who killed a pastor, and a staff member's stepson released after four years of a 40-year prison term.
He also was criticized over the election bid of his wife, Janet, who ran for secretary of state. Their combined candidacies raised the possibility a husband and wife could hold two of three seats on the panel that draws the state's political boundaries and that one spouse would oversee the other's election results.
Fisher, who served on then-Gov. Bill Clinton's staff in 1979 and hasn't shied away from campaigning with Clinton this year, was first elected treasurer in 1980 and has held the post 22 years.