Leslie Rutledge

Early life and career

Rutledge, a native of Batesville, Arkansas, is a graduate of Southside High School, the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law. She began her legal career as Clerk for Arkansas Court of Appeals Judge Josephine Hart, now Associate Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court. She was appointed Deputy Counsel for Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and later served as Legal Counsel on the Mike Huckabee for President Campaign. She served as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in Lonoke County and in subsequent service as Attorney for the State of Arkansas’s Division of Children and Family Services. She also served as Deputy Counsel at the National Republican Congressional Committee before joining the Republican National Committee as Counsel. Prior to her election as Attorney General, she founded and practiced law at The Rutledge Firm, PLLC. Rutledge lives in Little Rock.

Attorney General of Arkansas

Rutledge sought the Republican Party nomination for Attorney General of Arkansas in the 2014 election. She faced fellow attorneys Patricia Nation and David Sterling. Rutledge finished with the most votes in the primary election, but did not reach 50% of the vote. She faced second-place finisher Sterling in a runoff election. Nation endorsed Rutledge, and she defeated Sterling.

In September, County Clerk Larry Crane of Pulaski County cancelled Rutledge's voter registration when he discovered that Rutledge had registered to vote in Washington, D.C.. She reregistered in Pulaski County.

She defeated Democratic Party nominee Nate Steel, a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives, in the general election. She is the first Republican and woman elected Attorney General of Arkansas.