Charlie Daniels is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Democratic Party

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 politician from Arkansas

Arkansas

Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

. He is currently Auditor for the state of Arkansas and previously served as Arkansas’s Secretary of State and Commissioner of State Lands.

Early Life and Career

Charlie Daniels was born in Parker's Chapel, Arkansas, and grew up in El Dorado, Arkansas

El Dorado, Arkansas

El Dorado , a multi-cultural arts center: South Arkansas Arts Center , an award-winning renovated downtown, and numerous sporting, shopping, and dining opportunities. El Dorado is the population, cultural, and business center of the 7,300 mi² regional area...

. He attended South Arkansas University, and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock

University of Arkansas at Little Rock

University of Arkansas at Little Rock , is a public research university located in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, and the second largest university by enrollment in the state of Arkansas....

. From 1974 to 1980, he served as Director of the Arkansas Department of Labor in the Cabinet of Governor David Pryor

David Pryor

David Hampton Pryor is a former Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives and United States Senator from the State of Arkansas. Pryor also served as 39th Governor of Arkansas from 1975 to 1979 and was a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1960 to 1966...

 until 1979, and was retained in that post for a year under Governor Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

. He served as Director of Government Affairs for Arkansas Electric Cooperatives from 1980 to 1984.

Statewide offices

In 1984, he was elected as Arkansas Commissioner of State Lands, and was subsequently reelected to four-year terms in 1986, 1990, 1994, and 1998. He was elected as the 32nd Arkansas Secretary of State in 2002, defeating the Republican Party nominee, Janet Huckabee

Janet Huckabee

Janet McCain Huckabee is the wife of former 2008 Republican presidential candidate and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee...

, the wife of then-Governor Mike Huckabee

Mike Huckabee

Michael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won...

, and was reelected in 2006.

In 2010 he ran for State Auditor, opposed only by Green Party candidate Mary Hughes-Willis. He won the election and took office in January 2011.