As the 2016 presidential hopefuls criss-cross the country in campaign and fundraising mode, their online videos and social media messages are supplementing their in-person appearances.  Those videos, obviously, are designed to portray the candidate or potential candidate in the best light possible.

One video that does this comes from Prosperity For All Fund, a political action committee associated with Huckabee.  The video touts Huckabee's record as governor of  Arkansas.  In the video, Huckabee says he "raised average family income by 50 percent" during his tenure as Arkansas governor.

PolitiFact Florida took a look at the video and the statistics to see how Huckabee's claim measured up. PolitiFact reporter Joshua Gillin says Huckabee's statement rates MOSTLY FALSE.

"We took a look at the numbers and it is true that income went up about 59 percent," Gillin said. "The problem here is that the 59 percent number is not adjusted for inflation. Huckabee was governor from 1996 through 2007, so 1996 dollars are nowhere near the same as 2007 dollars.  When we took those same raw numbers and adjusted for inflation so that we could compare apples to apples, that family income increase is closer to 20 percent."

Gillin said even if the 59 percent number was accurate on its own, it wouldn't stand out on the national stage.

"We looked at the rest of the country in that same time frame," he said. "Before adjusting for inflation, Arkansas' 59 percent didn't stand out all that much. The entire country experienced wage growth of 62 percent, so what Huckabee is touting as something special is actually something that was below the national average."

Because of the lack of adjustment for inflation and the way that state numbers compare to the national averages, Mike Huckabee's claim rates MOSTLY FALSE.

 

SOURCES: Family income in Arkansas

  • PolitiFact ruling
  • Prosperity for All Fund, "Nailed Shut" (Mike Huckabee video), May 1, 2015
  • Bureau of Economic Analysis, main search page for state personal income statistics, accessed May 4, 2015
  • Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI Inflation Calculator, accessed May 4, 2015
  • National Conference of State Legislatures, "NCSL Fiscal Brief: State Balanced Budget Provisions," October 2010
  • Cato Institute, "Fiscal Policy Report Card on America’s Governors," 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2006
  • Email interview with Hal Bass, political scientist at Ouachita Baptist University, May 4, 2015
  • Email interview with Tara Sinclair, George Washington University economist, May 4, 2015
  • Email interview with Gary Burtless, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, May 1, 2015
  • Email interview with Hogan Gidley, senior communications advisor to Huckabee, May 4, 2015