In many ways Sarah Elizabeth Huckabee Sanders is her father’s daughter.
The deputy White House press secretary is the youngest of three children of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and his wife, Janet. She is their only daughter.
The 34-year-old Sanders is drawing close scrutiny this week as she leads the daily press briefings while her boss, press secretary Sean Spicer, fulfills his Navy Reserve duty at the Pentagon.
Her prime time behind the lectern has kicked up speculation that the woman already tagged as a fearless, quick-on-her-feet, “rising star” in the administration is being auditioned to replace Spicer.
She has people talking about her Southern charm offensive. Before she opened the Wednesday briefing she wished her 5-year-old daughter, Scarlett, happy birthday on live TV.
“I think her first birthday wish would probably be that you guys are incredibly nice,” she told the assembled reporters.
Here are nine quick things to know about her.
1. Arkansas is her place called hope
Both of her parents hail from Hope, Ark., hometown of former President Bill Clinton. Ties to her home state – where her father in 2000 famously installed a triple-wide “manufactured home” at the governor’s mansion during a renovation – run deep.
Sanders graduated from Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Ark., a private liberal arts college that focuses “on a love of God and a love of learning.” She was active there in Republican groups and other student organizations.
Her father also attended Ouachita, home of the Michael D. Huckabee School of Education.
She is friends with Mack McLarty, Clinton’s former chief of staff. She consulted him and several other Arkansas friends about her new White House gig, reported The Associated Press.
McLarty advised her to appreciate the “historic opportunity” to work in the White House. She moved her family from Arkansas to Washington when she joined the Trump administration.
2. She and her dad are tight
Mike Huckabee is his daughter’s political hero. “He’s an amazing politician, but an even better parent,” she told Time in 2010. “Every day he challenges me to be a better person and I will forever be grateful for that.”
They talk to each other most mornings before 6 a.m. “I’ll call and say, ‘What do you think if I say this?’ He’ll say, ‘That’s really good. You might try to say it a little bit more like X,’” she told the Associated Press in March.