Republican AGs tap Ark. attorney general for top campaign post

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge has been elected to lead the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) as the group hashes out its leadership ahead of the 2018 elections.

Rutledge takes over the group that has raised $14 million since the start of 2017, a RAGA official told The Hill, an internal record that far eclipses the $9 million it raised by this point in 2015.

“I am honored to be elected by my colleagues to lead RAGA during such a consequential cycle in which we have 30 races across the country. Just as I have done in Arkansas, Republican attorneys general will defend the rule of law and serve as the champions of opportunity,” she said in a statement.

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“Whether it is Arkansas, or across our nation, job creators and hardworking Americans rely on Republican AGs to ensure that the federal government will roll back burdensome regulations.”

Rutledge took over as Arkansas’s attorney general after the 2014 elections — before that, she had a long career in law, both in private practice, as a county prosecutor, and in state government.

She also previously served as a lawyer for Republican political groups like the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Republican National Committee.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will take over as the group’s vice chairman. The rest of the new executive committee includes Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi; Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr; Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill; Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt; Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry; Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson; and Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes.

Republicans currently hold 29 attorneys general positions across the country and RAGA supports efforts to reelect incumbents and boost the ranks of Republican attorneys general, a pivotal statewide office that will be at the center of many of the major policy pushes emanating from state governments and from the White House.

The RAGA recently lost a tough race in Virginia, where Democratic Attorney General Mark Herring secured another term over former federal prosecutor John Adams.