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Giving Goes Both Ways for Huckabee

Arkansans who gave often received posts from governor-turned-GOP candidate

By Michael O'Connor,  Newser User

Posted Dec 14, 2007 8:23 PM CST

(Newser) – For Mike Huckabee, the season of giving lasts all year long, Politico reports. An analysis of records from Huckabee's tenure as Arkansas governor showed that he accepted more than 90 gifts  from 21 Arkansans he later appointed to state posts. And those people kept giving: they contributed more than $161,000 to the Huckabee campaign, Politico finds. A Huckabee attorney called the correlation "a coincidence."

Many of the appointments were to unpaid boards and commissions, but the gifts added up: in one year they amounted to more than $112,000—nearly double his $67,000 state salary, the analysis shows. While there's no concrete proof of quid pro quo, the Arkansas Ethics Commission twice accused Huckabee of breaking rules. The governor also received expensive clothes, furniture, free scuba-diving lessons for his wife, and the use of a pair of boats.

Republican presidential hopeful and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee takes part in the Des Moines Register Republican Presidential Debate in Johnston, Iowa, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2007. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Republican presidential hopeful and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee takes part in the Des Moines Register Republican Presidential Debate in Johnston, Iowa, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2007. (AP Photo/Charlie...   (Associated Press)
Republican presidential hopeful, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee speaks as his wife Janet, left, listens as her husband speaks at a campaign stop in Tilton, N.H.,Friday, Dec. 14, 2007. (AP Photo/Cheryl Senter)
Republican presidential hopeful, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee speaks as his wife Janet, left, listens as her husband speaks at a campaign stop in Tilton, N.H.,Friday, Dec. 14, 2007. (AP Photo/Cheryl...   (Associated Press)
Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee speaks to listeners of his monthly radio call-in show in this May 9, 2006, file photo at a Little Rock, Ark., radio station. Despite partisan tensions, Huckabee was elected to two full terms as governor, and compiled a solid record of achievements
Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee speaks to listeners of his monthly radio call-in show in this May 9, 2006, file photo at a Little Rock, Ark., radio station. Despite partisan tensions, Huckabee was elected...   (Associated Press)
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