 Mike Huckabee |
CONTACT:
Lisa Lacher, Drake Media Relations Director, lisa.lacher@drake.edu or 515-271-3119;
Julie Rutz, IowaPolitics.com Marketing Coordinator, rutz@iowapolitics.com or
515-226-8774
Republican presidential candidate and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee will speak at the next Drake University-IowaPolitics.com Luncheon on Friday, April 13.
The lunch, which is open to the public, will begin at 11:45 a.m. with the program starting at noon in Drake’s Levitt Hall in Old Main. Huckabee will make brief opening remarks, then respond to questions from Chris Dorsey, the IowaPolitics.com Des Moines bureau chief, and from the audience. Doors will open at 11:30 a.m.
Pre-paid reservations for lunch are required due to limited seating. The cost is $10 per person for admission and lunch. To reserve a seat, call 515-271-3747 or e-mail iowacaucuses@drake.edu by noon Wednesday, April 11. Students with a Drake ID will receive free admission to the program portion of the luncheon. Parking will be available in the Drake parking lots at 26th Street and University Avenue and 25th Street and Carpenter Avenue.
Huckabee, who was first elected lieutenant governor in 1993, became Arkansas’ 44th governor in July 1996 when his predecessor resigned. He was elected to a full four-year term as governor in 1998, attracting the largest percentage of the vote ever received by a Republican gubernatorial nominee in Arkansas, and was re-elected to another four-year term in November 2002. He was the third longest serving governor in the history of Arkansas, having served 10.5 years before leaving office on Jan. 9.
A native of Hope, Ark., Huckabee served as chairman of the National Governors Association and chairman of the Education Commission of the States. During his tenure as governor, he made great strides in improving education, increasing access to health care, updating technology in state government and revamping the state’s roadways. A fiscal conservative, Huckabee pushed through the Arkansas Legislature the first major, broad-based tax cuts in state history. He also led efforts to establish a Property Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights and created a welfare reform program that reduced welfare rolls in the state by almost 50 percent. In 2005, Governing magazine named him as one of its Public Officials of the Year and Time magazine honored him as one of the ‘Five Best Governors’ in America.
The Drake-IowaPolitics.com Luncheon Series, which began March 9, provides a forum where major candidates, elected officials, major party leaders, campaign organizers, pollsters, pundits and other newsmakers can communicate directly with interested citizens as well as Drake students, faculty and staff. The series, launched less than a year before the crucial Iowa caucuses in January 2008, will help focus attention on major issues and Iowa’s role in the presidential selection process — both before and after the caucuses.
Drake University is a private institution recognized as one of the top master’s universities in the nation, with more than 5,350 students from 45 states and 60 countries. Located in Iowa’s capital city, the University is uniquely positioned to provide learning opportunities through partnerships with the city’s and state’s bounty of businesses, schools, government and cultural organizations.
IowaPolitics.com, an independent, nonpartisan online news service, maintains a free Web site at www.iowapolitics.com and a paid subscriber information service.
For more information about the luncheon series, contact Julie Rutz at 515-226-8774 or rutz@iowapolitics.com.