LITTLE ROCK, Ark.—Governor-elect Sarah Huckabee Sanders today named Gretchen Conger as her incoming Chief of Staff in the governor’s office. 
 
“Gretchen Conger’s proven experience and leadership from her time in the Arizona governor’s office makes her the perfect choice to serve as my Chief of Staff,” Sanders said. “Her dedication during the campaign to develop policy plans and initiatives, as well as her enthusiasm to get to know Arkansans, will help me usher in my bold agenda to take Arkansas to the top and build an incredible, talented team to serve the people of our state.” 
 
“I am honored and humbled that Governor-elect Sanders has tapped me to be her Chief of Staff,” Conger said. “It will be the honor of my life to serve Arkansas' first woman governor, and I am confident that her conservative leadership and bold agenda will ensure better opportunities for all Arkansans. I love Arkansas and its people, and I'm excited to get to work serving them and their interests.”
 
Gretchen Conger biography
 
Gretchen Conger brings over twelve years of experience in public policy and political engagement at the federal, state, and local levels in both the private and public sector.
  
Gretchen, who is currently serving as Deputy Director of Sanders’ transition office, served as Senior Advisor on the historic Sarah for Governor campaign, where she was responsible for the development of Sanders’ policy priorities and agenda. 
 
Prior to joining the campaign in 2021, Gretchen worked for Arizona Governor Doug Ducey for nearly seven years, both as his Legislative Director and completing her time with the Governor as his Deputy Chief of Staff. She was responsible for strategic development and execution of Ducey’s agenda, including his legislative, policy, and budget priorities. Gretchen helped Ducey achieve numerous accomplishments, including the largest tax cut in Arizona history, securing a historic 2.5 percent flat income tax. She worked to pass and implement important K-12 education reforms, including 20 percent in teacher pay raises, significant expansion of quality choice for more families, funding for the waitlists at high-performing charter schools, and establishing the Arizona Teacher’s Academy to recruit new teachers to the field. She also negotiated one of the largest water deals in Arizona history to protect the state’s limited water resources into the future. 
 
Before joining the Ducey Administration, Gretchen was the Vice President of Public Policy at the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, where she championed pro-business policies at the state legislature and with the federal delegation. She also ran the Arizona Chamber Foundation, a nonprofit policy research entity to develop policies that would promote a pro-growth environment and ensure economic freedom for businesses across Arizona. Gretchen has both issue-based and candidate-based campaign experience. 
 
She graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and minors in French and Spanish. 
 
Gretchen resides in Little Rock.