Challengers call Arkansas governor’s policy priorities misplaced in debate

Democrat Fred Love and Libertarian Colt Shelby sharply criticized Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ school voucher program, state spending priorities and prison plans in a debate Tuesday where the three gubernatorial hopefuls did not offer specific plans for the future of the state’s Medicaid expansion.

Sanders touted her record on tax cuts and school choice during the debate hosted by Arkansas TV, while Love and Shelby said her priorities were misplaced. 

Love, a state senator from Little Rock, repeated his promise to end the state’s school voucher program with an executive order if elected and supported suspending the state’s gas tax amid high fuel prices. Shelby said he would resume executions and push for legislation allowing for execution by firing squad.

This was the first debate of the 2026 election cycle featuring all three candidates. Shelby and Love debated in June at the Arkansas Press Association’s annual conference.

Sanders, White House press secretary for President Donald Trump during part of his first term, is running for reelection in a state that hasn’t elected a Democrat to a statewide seat since 2010. She won 62% of the vote in 2022; Trump won 64% of the vote in 2024.

Trump’s low approval numbers have raised Democrats’ hopes in the state, though political forecasters Larry Sabato and the Cook Political Report have rated the race as safely Republican.

Sanders’ office said in July that the Trump administration rejected the state’s request to renew its hybrid Medicaid expansion program, which purchases private insurance for low-income residents. The state has requested a temporary two-year extension as it works on a replacement.

Sanders said Medicaid expansion would be one of the most important issues addressed during next year’s legislative session but did not say what approach she’d favor as a replacement. Sanders also hailed the new work requirements for the expansion program, which take effect next year.

“We have to make sure we have accessibility. We also have to ensure that we have affordability. It’s why I fought so hard to make sure that Arkansas has a work requirement,” Sanders said. She said it was “outrageous that somebody should be able to confiscate your hard-earned tax dollars” because they “choose not to work.”

According to the health policy research group KFF, the vast majority of Medicaid recipients under the age of 65 already work, attend school, are caregivers or are unable to work due to an illness or disability. 

The Congressional Budget Office in 2022 found that work requirements for Medicaid and SNAP “reduced benefits more than they have increased people’s earnings,” while recent research found that nearly 20% of people currently enrolled in Medicaid would likely be unable to meet the work requirements even though they already work due to variable hours or hours that don’t meet the 80 hours requirement under the law.

More than 200,000 people were covered by Arkansas’ Medicaid expansion program, ARHOME, as of July.

Love said the state had to invest more in Arkansas hospitals and Medicaid. Shelby said the state needs “better Medicaid programs.” 

Love and Shelby attacked the school vouchers known as the Educational Freedom Account program and Sanders’ opposition to expanding Medicaid to cover mothers for 12 months postpartum, pointing both as examples of her having priorities that did not align with the state’s needs.

“For us to be a pro-life state, we’re doing a bad job in protecting our moms and protecting our children,” Love said. “The governor has refused to — refused to — actually pass 12-month postpartum care.” 

Sanders responded that “Democrats think that the government is the answer to all of our problems.”

“I want to empower people so that they can live their best lives,” she said. “You don’t do that by forever trapping them on government welfare.”

Medicaid eligibility for postpartum mothers would be limited to 12 months if Arkansas expanded the program to cover them. Arkansas is the only state that hasn’t done so.

Shelby called the LEARNS Act, Sanders’ signature 2023 education law that created the voucher program,  “the biggest failure of this administration.” He said teachers are unhappy while the educational gains cited by Sanders were based off a test “that the state made, that’s not nationally-recognized.”

“We need to scale it back, get it where we can afford it, and make the schools accountable for what’s going on,” Shelby said.

Sanders, however, said that LEARNS was working and improving outcomes for students. She pointed to literacy coaches that have been provided to struggling schools and increasing teacher pay as examples.

“What’s not fair is trapping kids in failing schools,” she said. “LEARNS is not just about educational freedom. While that is a key part of the legislation, it’s only a small part.”