Gov.-elect Sanders names two to senior staff

Gov.-elect Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced Tuesday (Dec. 20) additional appointments to her senior staff in the governor’s office.

Alexa Henning will serve as communications director and Mary Ashleigh Harper as Governor’s Mansion administrator.

“I am excited to add two highly qualified and exceptional women to our growing team,” Sanders said. “Alexa is a strong, talented communicator who served alongside me at the White House and Mary Ashleigh 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.”

Communications Director Alexa Henning most recently served as deputy chief of staff and spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., 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. Henning also worked for Jamestown Associates, a political and public affairs firm, and for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. She is from Dallas, and is 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. 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. Ashleigh previously served as the coordinator of the First Lady of Arkansas in the Office of Gov. Asa Hutchinson. She is a Hamburg native and graduate of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville (BA) and the University of Arkansas at Monticello (M.Ed.).

Sanders has made two announcements of staff positions in recent weeks. You can read them here and here.