Sanders returns to Texarkana as city becomes “Capital for a Day”

TEXARKANA, Ark. — Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders returned to her childhood hometown Wednesday, declaring Texarkana, Arkansas the state’s “Capital for a Day” and delivering remarks at the Texarkana USA Regional Chamber of Commerce’s State of Lithium event at the Hilton Garden Inn.

Texarkana is the 19th city to receive the designation under Sanders, who brings her cabinet secretaries, agency heads, and staff to spend the day meeting with residents and local leaders. Sanders said this stop was one of the most personal for her. Her family called Texarkana home for nearly 10 years before her father, Mike Huckabee, became governor, and Wednesday marked the 30th anniversary of the day he was sworn in.

“It is really an incredible full circle moment that today we’re in Texarkana, Arkansas,” Sanders said, adding that she planned to visit Beach Street Baptist Church, where her father served as pastor and where she attended Sunday school and kindergarten. She joked that when her parents told her the family was moving to the Governor’s Mansion in Little Rock, she informed them that at age 13 she was old enough to stay behind and live with her friends.

Sanders was introduced by State Rep. Carol Dalby of Texarkana. First Gentleman Bryan Sanders also attended.

Lithium and the state’s economy

Speaking to the State of Lithium crowd, Sanders said Arkansas is “standing on the edge of a transformational change to our economy,” with the potential to supply up to 19 million tons of lithium, which she said represents more than 20 percent of global demand. She pointed to royalty agreements being approved, several major sites nearing production, and state tax credits aimed at attracting upstream and midstream manufacturing in addition to extraction.

Sanders highlighted the story of Angela Meadows, a South Arkansas school custodian who enrolled in the Catalyst Program at South Arkansas College, trained two nights a week in El Dorado, and was hired as a chemical operator by Standard Lithium after graduating in 2023. Sanders said Meadows doubled her income after just four months in the program.

The Governor framed lithium as a national security issue as well, saying batteries are currently bought “overwhelmingly from Communist China,” which she said controls more than two-thirds of the global lithium supply chain. She noted she was the first governor in the country to ban Chinese ownership of farmland in her state.

“You’re not just investing in our state. You’re making America stronger and safer from our adversaries,” Sanders told the industry crowd.

Education and the meet and greet

Sanders also touted the Arkansas LEARNS Act, citing a report released last month showing student achievement rose 20 percent across every grade and every subject tested. “In just three years our kids are making lightning moves forward,” she said.

Following the luncheon, Sanders held a meet and greet at Zapata’s restaurant on Walnut Street in downtown Texarkana, where she told the crowd the state has invested more in public education through LEARNS than at any point in Arkansas history. She said every teacher’s salary has been raised by at least $2,000 and that the Merit Incentive Fund has awarded more than $50 million in bonuses to over 12,000 educators. “That’s real money. That’s life-changing money,” she said.

Full schedule

Sanders and her cabinet spent the full day in town. Her schedule included:

8:30 a.m. | GoodLuxe Coffee
9:25 a.m. | Texarkana Welcome Center
11:30 a.m. | State of Lithium luncheon, Hilton Garden Inn (Chamber of Commerce)
12:00 p.m. | Meet and greet at Zapata’s, downtown Texarkana, Ark.
2:00 p.m. | Tour and roundtable at Goins Plastic Source
3:30 p.m. | Meeting with local law enforcement alongside Col. Mike Hagar