--- description: In introducing Huckabee at the campaign launch, Asa Hutchinson mentioned this TIME list of the best governors in America title: Here Is the 'Best Governors' List the Huckabee Campaign Launch Cited image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteda6aecc0ef9fd42/6987ee6ca988cae48e6b085e/huckabee.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [mike huckabee](/tag/mike-huckabee/) ## mike huckabee Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Here Is the 'Best Governors' List the Huckabee Campaign Launch Cited  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. May 5, 2015 4:11 PM CUT  Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee speaks to guests gathered at the Point of Grace Church for the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition 2015 Spring Kickoff on April 25, 2015 in Waukee, IA. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee speaks to guests gathered at the Point of Grace Church for the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition 2015 Spring Kickoff on April 25, 2015 in Waukee, IA.Scott Olson—Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. May 5, 2015 4:11 PM CUT At the launch of Mike Huckabee’s campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination Tuesday, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson listed this as one of Huckabee’s credentials: when Huckabee himself was the top politician in Arkansas, TIME named him one of the country’s best governors. In one particular way, that 2005 list is an apt piece to cite. “Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is tickled by the rampant speculation that he will seek the presidency,” the story began. “Officially, he’s ‘keeping all options open,’ which is another way of saying he’s trying to figure out how much money he could raise.” But, the article hinted, if he could raise the money he might go far: --- > “” --- Huckabee did end up running in the presidential election that followed that story, in 2008, but did not win his party’s nomination. This time around, he’s [hoping for a different result](http://time.com/3845897/mike-huckabee-campaign-launch/ "undefined"). **_Read the whole story, in the TIME archives:_** [America’s 5 Best Governors](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,1129543,00.html "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3847072/huckabee-2005-best-governors/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3847072/huckabee-2005-best-governors/"},"headline":"Here Is the 'Best Governors' List the Huckabee Campaign Launch Cited","datePublished":"2015-05-05T16:11:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T06:56:23.617Z","description":"In introducing Huckabee at the campaign launch, Asa Hutchinson mentioned this TIME list of the best governors in America","url":"https://time.com/3847072/huckabee-2005-best-governors/","keywords":["mike huckabee","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteda6aecc0ef9fd42/6987ee6ca988cae48e6b085e/huckabee.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteda6aecc0ef9fd42/6987ee6ca988cae48e6b085e/huckabee.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Republicans Hopefuls Speak At Iowa Faith And Freedom Coalition","caption":"Republicans Hopefuls Speak At Iowa Faith And Freedom Coalition","creditText":"Scott Olson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/mike-huckabee/","name":"mike huckabee"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3847072/huckabee-2005-best-governors/","name":"Here Is the 'Best Governors' List the Huckabee Campaign Launch Cited"}}]}] ```