Little Rock lawyer Leslie Rutledge, a Republican former prosecutor who served as deputy counsel for Gov. Mike Huckabee, announced on Monday (July 1) she is running for attorney general in the 2014 election.
“If you take advantage of Arkansas citizens, I will prosecute you, because breaking Arkansas law is never good for jobs, freedom or prosperity,” she said in a news release.
Rutledge, who announced her candidacy in a 5-city tour that included a scheduled stop in her hometown of Batesville, said in a news release she is endorsed by Huckabee and former U.S. Rep. John Paul Hammerschmidt, R-Ark.
Republican David Sterling also is running for the post in next year’s election. Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, a Democrat, cannot seek re-election because of term limits.
Rutledge said her key issues include prosecuting Internet predators and preserving Second Amendment rights and the “sanctity of life.”
“Arkansas deserves to be free from those who seek to rip us off, abuse seniors, harm consumers and from an overreaching federal government,” she said. “Without freedom we can’t have opportunity.”
Rutledge is a graduate of the University of Arkansas and holds a law degree from the William H. Bowen School of Law in Little Rock. In addition to serving on Huckabee’s staff when he was governor, she was legal counsel for his presidential campaign. Rutledge currently is in private practice at The Rutledge Firm in Little Rock.
