Mike Huckabee has served as the United States Ambassador to Israel since 2025. He previously had served as the Governor of Arkansas (1996–2007) and was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 and 2016 presidential elections.
Social issues
Abortion
Huckabee opposes any public funding for abortion, and believes that abortion should be legal only when the life of the mother is at risk.Ark. Gubernatorial Election 2002 National Political Awareness Test VoteSmart.org He believes that it would "most certainly" be a good day for America if Roe v. Wade were repealed.Bench Memos: The Republican Debate National Review
In a 2006 interview, Huckabee said that the legality of abortion "should be left to the states." However, in November 2007 he told Fox News that the federal government should outlaw abortion, stating, "For those of us for whom this is a moral question, you can't simply have 50 different versions of what's right".Mike Huckabee: For states' rights before he was against states' rights Arkansas Blog
In one 1996 case, the abortion clinic that performed an abortion on a 15-year-old Arkansas girl who was allegedly raped by her stepfather was denied Medicaid reimbursement by Huckabee. The State of Arkansas was involved in a lawsuit to determine whether the state would be required to stop accepting Medicaid benefits from the federal government due to a discrepancy between state and federal law. Arkansas voters had approved a 1988 amendment to the state constitution banning public funding for abortions except to save the life of the mother. This was in harmony with the federal law at the time. Federal laws changed in 1993, mandating that Medicaid funds also be used for abortions in cases of rape and incest. This caused an abortion opponent to file a lawsuit asking that Arkansas be forced to withdraw from Medicaid. The state contended that abortions in cases of rape and incest were being funded by a private trust in order to abide by state law. Huckabee claimed that if Medicaid funds were used in those cases, the state risked losing both the lawsuit and about $900 million in federal funding. Arkansas Governor Blocks Medicare Payment for an Abortion in Incest Case New York Times August 10, 1996 Huckabee has indicated that he personally opposes public funding for abortions or for organizations that perform or advocate the procedure. He stated the Supreme Court ruling, Roe v Wade, had created a "holocaust of liberalized abortion". CNN.com
Roe v. Wade was ultimately overturned in June 2022 by the Supreme Court's ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which returned the authority to regulate abortion to the states.
Crime and drugs Huckabee said that he supports the death penalty, but only reluctantly. He believes that eliminating parole gives no incentive for rehabilitation, and believes that more prisons should be built, and their management should be privatized. As Governor, he granted 1,033 pardons and commutations which is ten times more pardons than Governor Bill Clinton granted during his tenure.Surging Huckabee forced to defend role in release of rapist He supports flexible federal block grants for crime programs, and supports tougher juvenile crime penalties, but believes that the states should set them. Huckabee supports drug courts for non-violent drug offenders, believes that drug education fails and drug punishment works, and that stricter penalties for drug-related crimes should be enforced. He opposes the medical use of marijuana, and said he would continue to raid, arrest, prosecute, and imprison patients who are using marijuana as a medicine.Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana
Education Huckabee believes that "education is empowerment. The lack of it leads us to ... all kinds of obstacles in our path." He has also stated that "education is a key for every child."
Huckabee supports incorporating character education into school curricula, displaying the Ten Commandments in schools, and implementing stringent remedial action to correct severely failing schools. While governor of Arkansas, he made conspicuous efforts to protect the rights of parents to homeschool their children, and was rewarded in the subsequent 2008 Republican presidential primaries with enthusiastic support from many homeschool families.
Huckabee was instrumental in implementing standards-based education reforms and academic testing changes in Arkansas. He has described these "standards" reforms by writing, "[i]n 1998 I announced ... the first of several major reform efforts in Arkansas that were to focus on not only increasing funding but, more important, improved results." He has also called for more federal funding of IDEA for the education of disabled students. He supports charter schools.
Embryonic stem cell research Huckabee has said that embryonic stem cell research creates life only to end a life. He applauded George W. Bush's veto of legislation meant to loosen federal funding for embryonic stem cell research in June 2007, saying that the bill was wrong on moral grounds and based on inconclusive science. He also said that scientists have developed other types of stem cell research that would not require the use of a human embryo. He said that "vital scientific research can and is being conducted without the destruction of life.""Huckabee Commits to June, August Debates in Iowa ". PBS, June 25, 2007
Energy independence During his 2008 presidential campaign, Huckabee stated that if elected, he would make the US "energy independent" by the end of a second term. His plan calls for conservation, exploration and the pursuit of alternative energy. He specifically mentions nuclear, wind, solar, hydrogen, clean coal, biodiesel and biomass and he supports federal research and development of these energy sources. Huckabee states that dependence on foreign oil has "not just shaped our foreign policy, it has deformed it". He sees energy independence as vital to an effective foreign policy.Issues: Energy Independence MikeHuckabee.com
Environment Huckabee strongly supported "cap and trade" (also called emissions trading) when running for President in 2007. Speaking at the Cool Air Planet Conference in Oct. 2007 he said, "I also support cap and trade of carbon emissions. And I was disappointed that the Senate rejected a carbon counting system to measure the sources of emissions, because that would have been the first and the most important step toward implementing true cap and trade."ThinkProgress, Flashback: In 2007, Mike Huckabee Supported Cap on Trade, http://thinkprogress.org/2010/12/16/huckabee-flip-cap-and-trade/ Atlanta Journal Constitution, Jay Bookman, December 16, 2010, In December 2010, Huckabee claimed on his website that he had never supported cap and trade, and responding to those that said he had supported it, "to put it simply, that's just not true." However, given the video that shows him favoring cap and trade, Huckabee's denial was inaccurate. Huckabee has stated that Americans should follow the Scout rule: "leave the earth better than we found it." He supported conserving the Buffalo River in north Arkansas against dams, and supports the State Revolving Loan Fund for flexible clean water. He also supports the national drought policy. As Governor, Huckabee supported a conservation tax for Arkansas parks.Jefferson, James (November 7, 1996) "HUCKABEE PLEASED WITH VOTES ON ARK. AMENDMENTS" The Commercial Appeal In 2007, Huckabee supported a "cap and trade" emissions control program and also stated that confronting global warming is a moral issue. In 2010, however, he said of cap and trade, "I never did support and never would support it—period." As Governor, Huckabee opposed efforts by Oklahoma to reduce water pollution. Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson had sued Arkansas poultry companies alleging that chicken waste fouled Oklahoma rivers. He has said that "Republicans ought to be leading the way to be better stewards on the environment, and we're not."
Gun laws Huckabee has voiced his support for self-defense and the Castle Doctrine, and has generally taken an anti-gun control stance. He believes that the concealed carrying of weapons should be allowed. He has said that whenever he hears people start talking about hunting when referring to the Second Amendment, he realizes they do not know what they are talking about, because the Second Amendment was to allow an armed citizenry the opportunity to protect themselves in case a tyrannical government ever came into power.
Health care Huckabee feels that the American health care system focuses too much on treatment and not enough on prevention. He says that America needs a "health" system, not just a "health care" system.Mike Huckabee for President - Health Care MikeHuckabee.com He is a strong advocate of healthy living, encouraging Americans to exercise more and eat less.Huckabee to America: Exercise more, eat less USA Today
Huckabee opposed Obama's health care plan, the Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as Obamacare. He stated that he wants to "give citizens more control over their own health care choices".
Huckabee thinks HMOs should not be required to cover people with preexisting conditions.
HIV/AIDS Huckabee supports increasing George W. Bush's President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) from $15 billion to $30 billion over five years.ONE Vote '08 Applauds Governor Huckabee for Speaking Out on Fighting Against Global Disease One.org
In his 1992 Senate campaign, Huckabee called for AIDS patients to be isolated from the general public. In response to a candidate questionnaire from the Associated Press, he stated:
If the federal government is truly serious about doing something with the AIDS virus, we need to take steps that would isolate the carriers of this plague. It is difficult to understand the public policy towards AIDS. It is the first time in the history of civilization in which the carriers of a genuine plague have not been isolated from the general population, and in which this deadly disease for which there is no cure is being treated as a civil rights issue instead of the true health crisis it represents.
In the same statement, Huckabee also opposed increasing federal funding for HIV/AIDS research and suggested that Hollywood celebrities should provide additional funds instead. Huckabee now supports additional funding for HIV/AIDS research.
In 2007, facing critics who pointed out that by 1992 it was well known that HIV/AIDS could not be spread by casual contact, Huckabee stood by his earlier view, saying that in 1992 "there was still a great deal of, I think, uncertainty about just how widespread AIDS was, how it could be transmitted. So we know more now than we did in 1992, all of us do—hopefully."
Immigration In 2001, Huckabee endorsed the use of foreign workers from Canada and Mexico for agricultural labor.
In 2006, a Mexican consulate opened in Little Rock. Huckabee strongly supported it.HispanicTips » » Mexican consul ready to facilitate - Based in Little Rock, Arkansas looking to Memphis, Tennessee Some say his support of the Mexican consulate was illegal.
Huckabee disagrees with aspects of John McCain/Ted Kennedy immigration reform but in a May 16, 2006, Washington Post interview he agreed with George W. Bush's immigration plan, saying: