In 2005 [[Time Magazine]] declared him one of "America's 5 Best Governors".<ref>http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1129494,00.html</ref>
In a controversial movehis gubernatorial elections, Huckabee aggressively pushed for the release of [[Wayne DuMond]], a serial rapist who had raped a 17-year-old girl, [[Ashley Stevens]]. Conservative Christians came in strong support of DuMondby minorities, after and he had converted reaches out to Christianity minority voters in prison. Huckabee became DuMond's public advocate, writing him a personal letter of support and lobbying the Republican primary for his release to the state parole boardpresident more than most other candidates. <ref>http://www.wndwashingtonpost.com/indexpolitics/mike-huckabee-looking-for-a-niche-woos-blacks-in-gop-primaries/2015/07/27/cf6fc468-3081-11e5-97ae-30a30cca95d7_story.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=45053html</ref> The parole board agreed. Huckabee has denied having any involvement with Wayne DuMond, and his website claims he had not pressured the state parole board, despite three of the parole board members saying he had done so.
== Political Beliefs ==