What to know about Republican presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson

This is part of a series on the 2024 presidential candidates.

William Asa Hutchinson II was born on Dec. 3, 1950, in Bentonville, Arkansas.

He earned his bachelor's degree in accounting from Bob Jones University in 1972 and received his J.D. from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1975.

Hutchinson has four children with his wife, Susan Burrell.

When President Ronald Reagan appointed Hutchinson as U.S. attorney for the Western District of Arkansas in 1982 he was 31, and the nation's youngest U.S. attorney.

He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1996, then appointed as director of the Drug Enforcement Administration by then-President George W. Bush.

Hutchinson became undersecretary for border and transportation security at the Department of Homeland Security in 2003 before resigning in 2005.

He served as the governor of Arkansas from 2015-2023.

As governor, he had a conservative record -- tax cuts, an abortion ban, pushback on COVID-19 vaccination requirements and restrictions on trans youth in sports.

However, in 2021, he vetoed a bill that would ban transgender medical procedures on minors, arguing it interfered with parental decisions -- to the disapproval of many conservatives.