Alexa Henning, the frequently combative, often unresponsive communications director for Gov. Sarah Sanders, will leave the governor’s office this month to take a position at a political affairs firm in Washington, D.C., the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported this morning.
Henning has handled communication for the governor since Sanders took office in January of 2023. Her last day will be Aug. 16, the newspaper said.
During her 19 months or so in Arkansas, Henning brought a truculent tone to her work and seemed to revel in conflict. At one point last year, she called herself “one of the governor’s henchmen” in a social media profile, although she later changed it to something more professional.
Henning brought an aloof, stick-it-to-the-libs approach to the job, a stark departure from the genial face-to-face politics Arkansans were used to. Henning worked for President Donald Trump, both in the White House and on his 2020 reelection campaign. Her most recent job before coming to Arkansas was as the deputy chief of staff and spokesperson for Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who was part of efforts to overturn 2020 election results to keep the White House in Trump’s hands.
Henning followed the example set by her boss during Sanders’ days as White House press secretary, publicly going to battle with journalists in an attempt to discredit them. One target was Democrat-Gazette columnist and former Republican gubernatorial staffer Rex Nelson, who labeled Henning and other Sanders staffers from other states the “traveling Trumpettes.”
For all the shit talking Henning liked to do on social media, she didn’t seem to like to answer questions much, at least not questions from the Arkansas Times. We’ve emailed her about policy matters and the infamous lectern that momentarily derailed the Sanders administration. For the most part, those requests were met with crickets.
We’ve also contacted her about less-serious matters, like the hiring of a new executive chef at the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion early in 2023. That query was met with a few days of silence, followed by an attorney’s letter claiming the name of the governor’s chef falls under the working papers exemption?
In the earliest days of Sanders’ time in office, a memo sent by Sanders’ then-Deputy Chief of Staff Kelly Eichler said Henning should be contacted any time a cabinet member receives a Freedom of Information request or is asked to comment to the media.
“Alexa is great with messaging, so please ask her if you are unsure about how to respond to any request about your agency, legislation, etc.,” Eichler wrote.
If only.
Henning did not reply to an email seeking comment for this story.