One of the notable features of Gov. Sarah Sanders’ first two years in office has been that when she asks Republican legislators to jump, their usual response is “how high?”

So it’s all the more striking that the Arkansas Legislative Council has quietly pulled from consideration a $57 million contract to design the 3,000-bed mega-prison she wants to build in Franklin County — a strong indication that she didn’t have the votes to push it through.

She’s also seen one of her usual allies in the Legislature, Sen. Gary Stubblefield ( R-Branch), denounce as “extortion” threats made to recalcitrant lawmakers to pull funding for projects in their districts if they don’t support the prison — a tactic that isn’t rare but isn’t usually discussed out loud in such blunt language.

And in another

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