Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders took the podium in Arkansas on a recent morning, and her familiar voice immediately brought to mind her pugnacious media conferences under Donald Trump. There were no reporters present to engage in a culture war, and only a handful of Arkansans had come to celebrate the ongoing grants from the state for parks and playgrounds. She said that when her children were younger they would plan an expensive trip only to discover that their kids preferred to play on a playground or swing set. The 41-year old governor wore a metallic skirt with pumps that was millennial friendly and matched her new brand as the youngest Governor in the United States. She talked about how her husband Bryan planned outdoor adventures for their three children. “Some of which I’m glad I went on,” she said. The crowd, including Bryan, laughed.

Sanders has come a long way since the White House Correspondents’ Dinner of 2018, where she sat with a rictus on her face as Michelle Wolf made jokes about her burning facts, and how to use the ash from them “to create a perfectly smoky-eyed look.” She gained fame for defending Trump’s reality while reducing the content of the press briefing. She was seen by her supporters as an outsider who could not be corrupted or influenced by Washington’s establishment.

They say that now that she has returned to her home state, she still places Arkansas first. Sanders is a familiar face in a tight-knit community where many of her colleagues have known Sanders since she was able to walk. They insist that her time spent with Trump has not fundamentally changed her. Washington was just one of Sanders’ adventures. She is glad that she took part in some. Many people in Arkansas also love her because she is a fighter and an amazing communicator. Chris Caldwell told me that people are drawn to her.

She has returned to Washington with the experience she gained in Trump’s Washington. She has little faith in the media. She drives between events in an SUV with tinted glass, accompanied by state police in suits and the comms director from Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign. She takes so few press questions at open events that Arkansas reporters have given up on the idea of asking a lot. As a national figure, she’s been listed as a potential running mate for Trump. She reaches out to her audience in her own way, whether it’s on Fox News or Instagram, and Elon Musk’s X where she has more than 2.3 million followers. She sometimes seems to govern in the interests of others. She may not have a border between Arkansas and Mexico, but in Eagle Pass, Texas she spoke about the border crisis with Fox & Friends. The Arkansas National Guard was sent to the border. Arkansas has allowed gender-neutral identification cards for years. There are only a few hundred of them issued. But she used the same strategy as the Republican war against trans rights to justify banning the IDs in her state.

Sanders is adamant that Arkansans share the same concerns as Americans, and this has led to her taking action. This delights many Arkansans. “That was a brave move,” said a woman in a Little Rock coffee shop about Sanders’ decision. “I like bold actions.” Yet, there are rumblings – angry educators, cowed Republicans and a declining approval rating. There is a sense that Sanders may be auditioning for a larger role. It was difficult to ignore that Sanders’ governorship, which began less than two-years ago, had disappointed many people in her home state. Arkansans that voted for Sanders. Independents. Old guard Republicans. Former allies of her father.

Rex Nelson spent nearly a decade working as the director of policy and communication for her father, the former governor. Mike Huckabee said that he has seen the Republicans’ frustration with Sanders grow. He said: “We’re in an odd position.” “We have a governor who doesn’t seem to be interested in governing Arkansas.”

Nothing in her life threatens to undermine her political power. Austin Bailey, editor of The Arkansas Times said that Republicans “might be annoyed with her but that doesn’t mean they don’t know that she has a bottomless battle chest and that will primary them without blinking an eye.” Although during my bizarre Sanders tour in Arkansas, I began to wonder how anyone could know if that was the case.

Sanders posed for pictures in the lobby of the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism with the town representatives and the oversized checks. A line of towns in Arkansas was formed to meet Sanders. (“Who’s next? “Come on down, Camden.” I had asked a young aide, dressed in a blue suit and a white shirt, who was Sam Dubke’s deputy comms manager and speechwriter. Dubke is from Virginia, and is the son of Trump’s former (but brief) communications director Michael. He referred me Alexa Henning who was Sanders’ director of comms. Sanders’ security team kept their distance by glancing at me. Henning said she would be available to the media on the following day. She replied, “I’ll send you an email.”

Sanders and her team drove off after the photos. Sanders’ media schedule was over, but the day hadn’t yet begun. She was attending a Lincoln Day Dinner in Arkadelphia with House Speaker Mike Johnson that evening. Imagine the roaring applause that greeted Sanders’ introduction. As journalists were not allowed, I tried to imagine the applause.

She’s controlling her message

Sanders’s decision to run for governor in the year 2022 was a clear indication that she did not plan to follow in the footsteps of her father, who held office between 1996 and 2007, or her predecessors, former Republican Governors. Asa Hutchinson and both of them grew up in different political environments, where they were required to work with Democrats. But observers did not assume that her style would be modeled after her White House boss. John Boozman of Arkansas said, “She has been in politics a long time.” She “grew up literally in the governor’s house” and managed his Senate campaign. “Sanders has her own personality.” He told me that she has a strong personality. She was also extremely well-funded with money coming in from outside the state.

Sanders’ primary opponent was a podcaster, who was against the Covid-19 vaccination requirements. He accused Sanders of being “Republican in Name Only” and claimed that 2020 presidential elections were stolen. She avoided the topic and beat him by 65 points. She largely followed the national script during the general election. Even her Arkansas proposal to phase out the income tax was accompanied by an advertisement blaming Biden for inflation and Kamala Haris for rising prices.

Arkansas, until recently, has resisted the national political trend. Arkansas is a conservative social state that voted for