Malin Fezehai/Redux
Asa Hutchinson poses for a portrait at the Republican National Convention in 2016.
From Springdale High School
A 1966 photo shows Hutchinson when he was in the 10th grade at Springdale High School in Springdale, Arkansas. Hutchinson was born and raised in Arkansas. He received an accounting degree from Bob Jones University in South Carolina and then graduated from the University of Arkansas School of Law.
From Asa Hutchinson/Facebook
Hutchinson and his wife, Susan, ride in a car together in the early 1970s.
From Asa Hutchinson/Facebook
Hutchinson, second from left, poses for a family photo with his parents, wife and four children. President Ronald Reagan tapped Hutchinson to be the US attorney for the Western District of Arkansas in 1982, making him the youngest federal prosecutor at the time at 31. He served in that role until 1985.
Tom Ewart/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images
Hutchinson, right, and his older brother, Tim, attend a victory party in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in 1996. Asa Hutchinson had just been elected to the US House of Representatives. He succeeded Tim, who was elected to the US Senate.
Laura Patterson/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images
The Hutchinson brothers take the Metro to Capitol Hill in 1997.
David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images
Hutchinson served as one of the GOP managers for the 1999 impeachment trial of fellow Arkansan Bill Clinton, making the case that the Democratic president had committed perjury and obstruction of justice. Hutchinson is second from right, between US Reps. Lindsey Graham, right, and James Rogan.
Stephen J. Boitano/AP
Hutchinson, as head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, shows a pen with a pullout OxyContin advertisement while testifying on Capitol Hill in 2001. Hutchinson resigned from Congress in 2001 to serve as DEA administrator.
Heesoon Yim/AP
Hutchinson explains the arrest of Mexican drug trafficker Benjamin Arellano Felix in March 2002.
Eliana Aponte/Reuters
Hutchinson puts on a police hat while visiting police headquarters in Bogotá, Colombia, in March 2002.
Scott Dalton/AP
Flower petals rain down on Hutchinson as he arrives at the national police headquarters in Bogotá in March 2002.
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Hutchinson is screened by security while passing through an airport checkpoint in Arlington, Virginia, in 2003. He had begun a three-year stint in the Department of Homeland Security, serving as undersecretary for border and transportation security.
Danny Johnston/AP
Hutchinson bags food for a customer in Little Rock, Arkansas, while campaigning for governor in October 2006. He was promoting the elimination of a state sales tax on groceries.
Danny Johnston/AP
Hutchinson is greeted at a rally in Highfill, Arkansas, in November 2006. He lost the election that year to Democrat Mike Beebe.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Hutchinson, left, consults with Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. CEO Steven Mendell as Mendell prepares to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee in 2008.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
Following the 2012 shooting massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, Hutchinson was appointed by the National Rifle Association to investigate school safety and how to improve it as part of the gun lobby's school safety initiative.
Danny Johnston/AP
Hutchinson, running for governor again, talks to 5-year-old Addison Mhoon after a speech at the Arkansas State Capitol in February 2014.
Karen E. Segrave/AP
Hutchinson — with his wife, Susan, and other family members by his side — gives a speech after being elected governor of Arkansas in November 2014.
Danny Johnston/AP
Ronnie Gautney, right, and T.J. Macklin change the glass on the door at the governor's office in Little Rock in January 2015.
Desmond Boylan/AP
Hutchinson warms up before a friendly basketball match in Havana, Cuba, in September 2015. He was visiting Cuba as part of a business delegation from Arkansas.
Gareth Patterson/AP
Hutchinson speaks at a town-hall event in Conway, Arkansas, in 2016.
Kelly Kissel/AP
Neldia Dycus, the Central Region director of the Arkansas Department of Health, gives Hutchinson a flu shot at the State Capitol in 2017.
Evan Vucci/AP
President Donald Trump meets with Hutchinson at the White House in 2020.
Andrew DeMillo/AP
Hutchinson speaks in his office in Little Rock in January 2021. In what may differentiate him from other Republican candidates, Hutchinson as governor did not downplay the coronavirus when the pandemic hit the United States. He encouraged his constituents to get the vaccine but objected to the Biden administration's vaccine mandates. While he approved a statewide ban on face mask mandates, he later said he regretted doing so.
Elizabeth Sanders/The New York Times/Redux
Hutchinson poses at the State Capitol in May 2021.
Jodi Hilton/The New York Times/Redux
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, left, and Hutchinson chat with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy at the National Governors Association meeting in Portland, Maine, in July 2022.
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP
Hutchinson gives an interview to the Associated Press in December 2022.
Andrew DeMillo/AP
Hutchinson and his wife, Susan, watch as their granddaughter, Jaella Wengel, left, and daughter, Sarah Wengel, unveil his official portrait at the State Capitol in January 2023.
Scott Morgan/Reuters
Hutchinson signs autographs while meeting with people in Des Moines, Iowa, in April 2023.
Andrew Harnik/AP
Hutchinson speaks at a caucus site in Clive, Iowa, in January 2024. He dropped out of the presidential race the day after the Iowa caucuses.
Washington CNN  — 

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced Tuesday he’s ending his presidential campaign following a dismal showing in Monday night’s Iowa caucuses, which were dominated by former President Donald Trump.

Hutchinson finished sixth in the caucuses, according to the Iowa GOP, capturing only 191 votes.

Since launching his campaign in April, the 73-year-old struggled to gain traction in a crowded Republican field that also included several younger current and former governors who entered the race with larger national followings.

Hutchinson was one of the few GOP candidates openly critical of Trump and had called on him to drop out of the race amid his many legal troubles. His failure to make a dent in the contest underscored the fundamental changes in a Republican base that might have, a decade earlier, considered Hutchinson among its most conservative options. He also argued that the former president – who faces 91 felony counts across four criminal cases – could be found guilty on a criminal offense during the GOP primaries, potentially throwing the party into chaos.

But polling has shown that many of those same Republican voters appear to have little appetite for a candidate so strongly opposed to the former president, who retains heavy support among the party base and could win his third straight presidential nomination this year. A staunch conservative, Hutchinson was booed and jeered when he spoke at an event last summer hosted by the pro-Trump group Turning Point USA.

“My message of being a principled Republican with experience and telling the truth about the current front-runner did not sell in Iowa. I stand by the campaign I ran,” Hutchinson said in a statement Tuesday.

Before the turn of the year, it was clear that Hutchinson had pinned his hopes to a strong performance in Iowa, his campaign appealing for support from the early state’s conservative evangelical Christian voters. If they had broken his way, Hutchinson felt he would have enough momentum to be competitive in the Southern states that vote on Super Tuesday, in March, including his home state of Arkansas.

In August, Hutchinson was a late qualifier for the first Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee. But he struggled to stand out onstage as higher-profile rivals dominated the night’s exchanges. He later fell short of making the polling and donor thresholds to qualify for later debates.

And despite a relatively early start to his candidacy, Hutchinson did not rake in enough donations to rival his competitors’ campaigns, nor did he secure high-profile endorsements.

Hutchinson entered the GOP primary boasting a decadeslong political resume. President Ronald Reagan tapped him to be the US attorney for the Western District of Arkansas in 1982, making him the youngest federal prosecutor at the time at 31. He served in that role until 1985, gaining prominence for his prosecution of a dangerous White supremacist group when he donned a bulletproof vest to help the FBI end a standoff with the group.

After losing bids for US Senate in 1986 and for Arkansas attorney general in 1990, Hutchison was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1996 from the state’s 3rd Congressional District. He succeeded his brother, Tim, who was elected to the US Senate.

In the House, Hutchinson served as one of the GOP managers for the 1999 impeachment trial of fellow Arkansan Bill Clinton, making the case that the Democratic president had committed perjury and obstruction of justice. Clinton was ultimately acquitted by the Senate on both articles of impeachment.

Hutchinson resigned from Congress in 2001 to serve as George W. Bush’s head of the Drug Enforcement Administration. In 2003, he began a three-year stint in the Department of Homeland Security, serving as undersecretary for border and transportation secretary.

Hutchinson lost a bid for Arkansas governor in 2006. Following the 2012 shooting massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, he was appointed by the National Rifle Association to investigate school safety and how to improve it as part of the gun lobby’s school safety initiative. In 2014, he won his first of two terms as Arkansas governor as the state solidified its move to the right.

This story has been updated with reaction and additional background information.

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to accurately reflect Asa Hutchinson’s finish in the Iowa Republican caucuses.