Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) is up for reelection and appears to be holding steady and ahead of her Democrat challenger, State Senator Frederick Love, who trails her at 40 percent to her 45 percent. As the local NBC station explained, Love and the Libertarian candidate Colt Shelby have increased their poll percentages, while Sanders' has slightly decreased.
According to KARK:
The latest poll numbers show that while Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders still holds among a majority of Arkansas voters, her numbers are falling.
The Talk Business & Politics-Hendrix College Poll still has the governor in first place among other candidates for governor, but that is with the support of 45% of likely voters. An October 2022 Talk Business & Politics-Hendrix College Poll had Sanders at 51% in the state, and that was one month before the general election.
In July, the Arkansas Department of Commerce and several news outlets celebrated that unemployment in the state had dropped to four percent, along with nonfarm payroll jobs showing three percent growth from 2025.
Today, the Arkansas Department of Commerce, in conjunction with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, announced Arkansas’ seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased one-tenth of a percentage point, from 4.2% in May to 4.1% in June. At 4.2%, the United States’ jobless rate declined one-tenth of a percentage point between May and June.
The Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) ranked as the third highest MSA in the US for percent growth of nonfarm payroll jobs over the year, growing 2.9% since June 2025.
This is a clear feather in Sanders' cap that she could have dined out on until November without question. So, whoever advised her to release this campaign ad must have been an operative acting on behalf of her opponents.
In the short ad, a white Gen Zer is lounging on his couch, playing his interactive game, eating Cheese Balls and other snacks, with apparently no desire to get off that couch and do something else... like going to work.
Sanders is interspersed with the footage of "Brad" doing his thing to deliver this message:
Meet Brad. Brad has turned relaxing into a full-time profession. But you? You actually work hard. You pay taxes to cover welfare for guy's like Brad who simply choose not to work.
That's why I launched a Welfare-to-Work requirement. Now, more Arkansans are working than ever before. Even Brad.
The video ends with Brad in a long-sleeved shirt and tie, ready to go to work with the message, "You Win."
WATCH:
You pay taxes to cover welfare for people who just choose not to work. That’s why I launched a welfare-to-work requirement.
— Sarah Huckabee Sanders (@SarahHuckabee) September 28, 2026
If you’re young, healthy, and get government assistance, you should work, go to school, or volunteer. pic.twitter.com/M83nxNMdry
Here's the problem: This ad not only feels out of left field, but is poorly timed and geared toward the wrong demographic. Sanders is getting heavy criticism for targeting young, white males, and it's criticism that is well deserved. As The Federalist's Sean Davis observed, "Great policy. Terrible ad that is so dishonest and insulting that it will entirely overshadow the genuinely great policy."
Great policy. Terrible ad that is so dishonest and insulting that it will entirely overshadow the genuinely great policy.
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) September 28, 2026
Davis is not wrong. Sadly, politicians go heavy on the broad brushstrokes and light on the nuance. White unemployment in the state is the same as the overall number, at 4 percent. However, Black unemployment is 8 percent, and Hispanic is 5 percent. No matter the demographic, it's not out of laziness or lack of trying. Arkansas' biggest corporations, such as Walmart, choose from the H1-B visa lottery rather than its citizen population.
According to Aspire Arkansas, the rate of white households receiving SNAP benefits is eight percent, and Hispanics 10 percent. Black households are at 22 percent. Sanders' consultants either didn't do their homework or they wanted to get around criticism of Sanders using a Black or Hispanic person in the ad. It was a lose-lose proposition no matter how you slice it. But Sanders is the chief executive of the state, and usually more politically savvy than this. So, why would she greenlight something that would tank her numbers among a demographic that she needs to show up and vote for her on November 3?
The criticism has not let up, and sadly, instead of pivoting, Sanders is doubling down.
Some critics online don't like my welfare work requirement ad. Next thing you know they’ll say I should have used cookies instead of cheese balls. If you are able-bodied you should not collect welfare simply because you choose not to work. Period. WATCH-> https://t.co/W9BAjVRkSA
— Sarah Huckabee Sanders (@SarahHuckabee) September 28, 2026
Obtuse is attractive on no one, and Sanders is definitely playing that card.
You are acting like your critics had a problem with your policy.
— Erchomenos (@Erchomenos) September 28, 2026
Have you actually READ the criticism? Then you would know it is not the policy people had a problem with. It is certainly not an argument about cheese balls.
Your reaction is insulting to your voter’s…
You are acting like your critics had a problem with your policy.
Have you actually READ the criticism? Then you would know it is not the policy people had a problem with. It is certainly not an argument about cheese balls.
Your reaction is insulting to your voter’s intelligence and shows either your ignorance or your deliberate misrepresentation of the argument.
I was giving you the benefit of the doubt. That this was a consultant mistake.
But now you own it. Get over your pride and do the right thing.
"Erchomenos" has offered some wise advice for what, by all accounts, was an unwise move. Sanders needs to own this mistake, apologize, and move on, especially with less than 40 days until the November midterms. Some are making the argument that the ad went viral and the tenets of the policy will win out, but that is highly doubtful in this cycle where the Republican base is already disenchanted and disgusted with its electeds.
The Republican Party is just a bunch of boomers and women lecturing and shaming young men about how lazy they are.
— Aristotle 🏛️ (@Aristotle7777) September 29, 2026
Honestly, we need a new generation of intelligent young men to run for political office to replace these people because of how terrible they are.
If Sanders had any political capital to spare, with this badly devised PSA, she's pretty much blown it to smithereens.
