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Mike Beebe

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Mike Beebe
Governor of Arkansas
Incumbent
In office
January 9, 2007 - Present
Term ends
January 13, 2015
Years in position 5
PartyDemocratic
Compensation
Base salary$87,352 per year
Elections and appointments
Last electionNovember 2, 2010
Next electionNovember 4, 2014
Term limits2 terms
Prior offices
Arkansas State Senate
1983 - 2003
Attorney General of Arkansas
2003 - 2007
Education
Bachelor'sArkansas State University
J.D.University of Arkansas Law School
Personal
BirthdayDecember 28, 1946
Websites
Office website

Contents

Michael Dale Beebe (born December 28, 1946) is the Governor of Arkansas and a member of the Democratic Party. He was elected to his position as Governor of Arkansas on November 7, 2006 after having served a four-year term as Attorney General of Arkansas and earlier, as a member of the Arkansas State Senate for 20 years.

Beebe is the 45th Governor of Arkansas.[1] He announced on January 19, 2010 that he would seek a second term as Governor of Arkansas, a race he won.

In a state that favored Republican presidential candidate John McCain over Barack Obama in 2008 by nearly 20 percentage points, Beebe has governed as a conservative Democrat. He was one of just three Democratic governors nationally who are regarded by the Congressional Quarterly Gubernatorial Race Tracker for 2010 as having a "Safe Democratic" seat.[2][3]

Biography

Governor Beebe was born in Amagon, a small town in Jackson County, Arkansas. He was reared by his mother, a waitress, and never met his father. As a child, Mike and his family moved often. They lived in Detroit, St. Louis, Chicago, Houston and Alamagordo, New Mexico. They returned to Arkansas, and he graduated from Newport High School in 1964.[4]

Beebe received a bachelor of arts degree in political science from Arkansas State University in 1968, where he was a member of Sigma Pi fraternity. He earned a law degree from the University of Arkansas in 1972. Beebe served in the U.S. Army Reserve.

He practiced law in Searcy in White County for ten years after his graduation from law school. In 1982, he was elected to the Arkansas State Senate, where he would serve for twenty years. In 2002, he was elected Arkansas attorney general.

Beebe and his wife, Ginger, have three children.

Political issues

State budget

See also: Arkansas state budget

In January 2010, Beebe said he intended to cut the state's budget by $106 million, or 2.4%. The announcement came after the state's Department of Finance and Administration said that the state's revenues came in below forecast in the last quarter of 2009. At the same time, the state lowered its estimate of income in fiscal year 2011 by 0.4 percent, a reduction of $19.4 million from the forecast the government issued in December 2009. The 2010-2011 budget, which goes into effect on July 1, 2010, does not include cost-of-living increases for state employees.[5],[6]

A photography of Mike Beebe's January 9, 2007 inauguration.
Photo credit: David Quinn

Elections

2010

See also: Arkansas gubernatorial election, 2010

Beebe announced in January 2010 that he is seeking re-election in 2010.[2] The Republican Party of Arkansas indicated that it plans to field a conservative challenger.[7]

The gubernatorial election in Arkansas is one of 37 gubernatorial contests in 2010. 19 of the seats in states with gubernatorial elections in 2010 are currently held by Democrats, including Arkansas.

The Congressional Quarterly Gubernatorial Race Tracker for 2010 ranks the Arkansas governor's seat as "Safe Democratic." It is one of just three (out of 38) seats that the organization is ranking as "Safe Democrat" as of January 2010, while they have identified 2 seats as "Likely Democrat" and 8 as "Leans Democrat".[8]

2006


Mike Beebe talks about his background at a 2006 campaign stop

Beebe announced his candidacy for the 2006 gubernatorial election on June 15, 2005. The seat was open, since incumbent Republican governor Mike Huckabee was unable to run for a third term as governor due to the state's gubernatorial term limits.

Beebe bested Republican challenger Asa Hutchinson, a former Republican member of the U.S. Congress who also served as the country's Drug Enforcement Agency chief. Minor party candidates Rod Bryan (Independent) and Jim Lendall (Green) were also in the race.

In the 2006 contest, Beebe outspent his Republican opponent by a margin of nearly 2-1. Beebe spent $6,304,515, while his GOP challenger spent $3,247,567.[9]

2006 election for Governor of Arkansas [10]
Candidates Votes Percentage
Mike Beebe (D) 430,765 55.61%
Asa Hutchinson (R) 315,040 40.67%
Rod Bryan (I) 15,767 2.04%
Jim Lendall (Green) 12,744 1.65%
Write Ins 334 0.05%
Total votes 774,680

Campaign donors

Ballotpedia collects information on campaign donors for each year in which a candidate or incumbent is running for election. The following table offers a breakdown of Mike Beebe's donors each year.[11] Click [show] for more information.


See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ Mike Beebe's official Arkansas biography
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 The City Wire, "Beebe to seek second term as Governor", January 19, 2010
  3. ↑ Congressional Quarterly Gubernatorial Race Tracker for 2010"
  4. ↑ ClarkCast 018, "Interview with Mike Beebe", July 24, 2006
  5. ↑ KATV, "Lawmakers Wrap Up Budget Hearings", January 21, 2010
  6. ↑ ABC News, "Gov. Beebe Agrees to Cut Arkansas Budget by $106M", January 11, 2010
  7. ↑ Arkansas News, "GOP chief says ‘conservative’ challenge to Beebe likely", January 19, 2010
  8. ↑ Congressional Quarterly Gubernatorial Race Tracker for 2010"
  9. ↑ Follow The Money, Governor of Arkansas, 2006
  10. ↑ 2006 General Election Results
  11. ↑ Follow the Money.org
Political offices
Preceded by
Mike Huckabee 		Governor of Arkansas
2007–present 		Succeeded by
NA
Preceded by
Mark Pryor 		Arkansas Attorney General
2003–2007 		Succeeded by
Dustin McDaniel
v • d • e
Governors
Current Governors
Robert Bentley (AL) • Sean Parnell (AL) • Jan Brewer (AZ) • Mike Beebe (AK) • Jerry Brown (CA) • John Hickenlooper (Governor of Colorado) • Dan Malloy (CT) • Jack Markell (DE) • Rick Scott (FL) • Nathan Deal (GA) • Neil Abercrombie (HI) • Butch Otter (ID) • Pat Quinn (IL) • Mitch Daniels (IN) • Terry E. Branstad (IA) • Sam Brownback (KS) • Steve Beshear (KY) • Bobby Jindal (LA) • Paul LePage (ME) • Martin O'Malley (MD) • Deval Patrick (MA) • Rick Snyder (MI) • Mark Dayton (MN) • Jay Nixon (MO) • Phil Bryant (MS) • Brian Schweitzer (MT) • Dave Heineman (NE) • Brian Sandoval (NV) • John Lynch (NH) • Chris Christie (NJ) • Susana Martinez (NM) • Andrew Cuomo (NY) • Beverly Perdue (NC) • Jack Dalrymple (Governor of North Dakota) • John Kasich (OH) • Mary Fallin (OK) • John Kitzhaber (OR) • Tom Corbett (PA) • Lincoln Chafee (RI) • Nikki Haley (SC) • Dennis Daugaard (SD) • Bill Haslam (TN) • Rick Perry (TX) • Gary R. Herbert (UT) • Peter Shumlin (VT) • Bob McDonnell (VA) • Christine Gregoire (WA) • Earl Ray Tomblin (WV) • Scott Walker (WI) • Matt Mead (WY)
Gubernatorial Elections
Features

This state official-related article is in the process of being updated.

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