PRESS RELEASE

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.—Governor-elect Sarah Huckabee Sanders today announced additional appointments to her senior staff in the governor’s office.
 
“I am excited to add two highly qualified and exceptional women to our growing team,” Sanders said. “Alexa [Henning] is a strong, talented communicator who served alongside me at the White House and Mary Ashleigh [Harper] brings a servant’s heart with an eye for detail to assist my family and me in the Governor’s Mansion. Both are tremendous additions to our team who will help me effectively lead our state and serve our people.”
 
Senior Staff Appointments:
 
Communications Director Alexa Henning most recently served as Deputy Chief of Staff and Spokesperson for U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (Wis.) and Senior Advisor to the senator’s 2022 re-election campaign. She brings a decade of experience in strategic communication and media relations throughout all levels of government and political campaigns. Prior to her most recent work, she was Director of Media Affairs for the Donald J. Trump for President Campaign in 2020 and the former White House Director of Broadcast Media for President Trump. Alexa also worked for Jamestown Associates, a political and public affairs firm, and for U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (Texas). She is from Dallas, Texas, and a graduate of the University of Missouri.
 
Governor’s Mansion Administrator Mary Ashleigh Harper will join the Sanders administration having spent the previous eight years in public service to the State of Arkansas. Mary Ashleigh has worked the past three years as a University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Education Coordinator, representing the Arkansas Rural Health Partnership. Prior to that she spent two years in the classroom as a first-grade teacher at Noble-Allbritton Elementary School in the Hamburg School District. Mary Ashleigh previously served as the Coordinator of the First Lady of Arkansas in the Office of Governor Asa Hutchinson. She is a Hamburg native and graduate of both the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville (BA) and the University of Arkansas at Monticello (M.Ed.).