Asa Hutchinson was so popular as governor that he won reelection by the largest margin of victory for a Republican candidate in Arkansas history.

Now he’s stuck at 1% in presidential primary polls.

Under different political circumstances, Hutchinson might have a resume that seems tailor-made for a presidential candidate. He was among the top 10 most popular governors in the country when he led Arkansas, according to Morning Consult. He served in Congress, in the George W. Bush administration and as a U.S. attorney, appointed by the late President Ronald Reagan.

But in a political landscape both dominated and remade by former President Donald Trump, Hutchinson — and nearly every other candidate running in the primary — is finding it nearly impossible to break through.

“He's a nice guy with a good message that has exactly zero chance,” said David Kochel, a veteran GOP strategist from Iowa.

It’s not for lack of trying. Hutchinson has at least nine Iowa events coming up this month, and has held and attended countless others in New Hampshire. He pounds the pavement in Manchester and Des Moines. He gamely addresses pro-Trump crowds, even when they boo him for pointing out the former president might get convicted of a crime next year.

And although several people interviewed for this story referred to Hutchinson as a true “southern gentleman,” the former governor has been more willing to take the gloves off and bash his party’s leader than most other candidates, save for former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

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“People see my campaign out there fighting and speaking in a way that not every candidate is doing. They like that,” Hutchinson said in a telephone interview. “There are just so many Republicans that want to go a different direction and they see me leading that effort … It’s also independents, and that's what is encouraging and that's what illustrates where our party needs to go.”

Hutchinson even compared Trump to a “petulant child” at a New Hampshire event this week, criticizing the former president’s appearance in a New York courtroom. “We don’t need that in America. We need adults in the room,” Hutchinson said.

But so far, Hutchinson’s pitch to bring back the “adults in the room” and his plea to stop alienating independent voters hasn’t registered with Republican primary voters.

Hutchinson had 1% of support in a recent poll of likely Iowa GOP caucus-goers from the Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa. One percent of voters named Hutchinson as their second choice, while 7% said they are actively considering him. Trump led that poll with 43% of support.

His numbers are similar in New Hampshire, where Hutchinson had 1% of support among likely New Hampshire primary voters in a September survey from Saint Anselm College, compared to Trump’s 45%.

“I've been encouraged by the response that I have received in these early states. I do hope that it's reflected in the polls at some point. But the polls are one factor,” Hutchinson said. “But right now, obviously, if I was thinking that this is a short campaign, I wouldn't be paying the filing fees in some of these later states.”

The former governor has faced other setbacks, too, leading some Republicans to question how long he should remain in the race. Hutchinson did not qualify for Wednesday’s presidential debate. His campaign had just $325,000 the bank at the end of September. His campaign manager and another aide recently left, forcing him to handle his own press inquiries until he could hire a replacement. New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu has even called on him to drop out.

“What's the rationale? Zombie Reaganism has a name and it's Asa Hutchinson? I don't get it. There's no path for him anywhere, in any state,” Kochel said.

But Hutchinson says he’s playing the long game, filing to appear on the ballot in states that vote even after Super Tuesday, like Florida, and betting that the earliest voters in Iowa and New Hampshire have not made up their minds yet. Hutchinson has said that he will reevaluate his campaign at Thanksgiving if he is unable to crack 4% in polls.

“We've got to break out still, but I think that's what people see. Because we haven't spent $10 million on media advertising, they’re getting to know me in a longer process and they're still wide open to it,” Hutchinson said. “They're impressed by both my background, but also what I bring in terms of leadership and reflect in the desire to have the presidency reflect our national character and integrity again."

The campaign “didn't miss a beat” after former campaign manager Rob Burgess left over a dispute about the direction of the campaign, Hutchinson said. He recently brought Alison Williams, his former chief of staff, on board.

But trying to break out in a crowded field with the holidays fast approaching, relatively low fundraising numbers and no access to the debate stage is an undeniable challenge.

He’ll have to do it on a tighter budget than some of his GOP primary opponents. Hutchinson’s third quarter fundraising haul was far smaller than Trump ($24.5 million), Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ($11.2 million) and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley ($8.2 million). That’s just counting campaign accounts, not super PACs or affiliated committees.

The former Arkansas governor also spent more than he raised in the third quarter of the year, which spanned from the beginning of July to the end of September. Hutchinson took in $667,000 during that period and spent $720,000. Meanwhile, former Vice President Mike Pence raised five times more than Hutchinson in the third quarter and dropped out last month after determining this is “not my time.”

Hutchinson’s challenge in the current political moment is not so dissimilar to Pence’s, some Republicans say.

“He would’ve been a great candidate 12 years ago,” said a GOP source with ties to the campaign.

Hutchinson also can’t draw from personal wealth like North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, a billionaire who is running TV ads in Iowa and New Hampshire to compensate for his failure to make the debate stage. (The Burgum campaign wouldn’t say how much he’s spending on the ads).

And unlike others in the race, Hutchinson will also probably be unable to rely on a supportive super PAC to swoop in with an advertising blitz. The committee boosting Hutchinson spent much of its money to get him on the August presidential debate stage, partially by paying college students $20 per $1 donation they generated for his campaign. Hutchinson got the least speaking time of any presidential candidate in Milwaukee and hasn’t appeared on a debate stage since.

Hutchinson recently released his first campaign ad on social media, but it hasn’t yet been placed on broadcast, cable or streaming TV, according to his Federal Election Commission report and TV ad monitoring services.

Sticking it to Trump has helped with fundraising, Hutchinson told The Messenger. He was recently booed at a Florida Republican gathering for telling the crowd that “there is a significant likelihood that Donald Trump will be found guilty by a jury on a felony offense next year” and it could hurt the GOP among independent voters and weaken the party for “decades to come.”

The boos didn’t tell the whole story, Hutchinson told The Messenger. And by now, he knows what is in store when he criticizes Trump on the stump.

“The media, so often they just hear a boo and they think that's the storyline. I knew what was coming and I had a message to deliver, but the response actually has been very good,” Hutchinson said. “You go through airports and and people come up and they say, stick with it, stick with it. Thanks for being a great American. So it just tells me despite the boos, it was a very successful speech and helped my campaign.”

Hutchinson’s path from the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary to Super Tuesday is somewhat unclear. Hutchinson did not register to participate in Nevada’s state party-run caucus or its state-run primary and is skipping the South Carolina primary, pointing to its delegate structure and competition from the two South Carolinians who will be on the ballot.

Some Republicans say that Hutchinson is ignoring the writing on the wall, and that he should drop out. “He has a great record and a great legacy, but at some point, all that comes falling down around you when you don’t know when it’s over,” said the GOP source with ties to the campaign.

But part of what drives Hutchinson to stay in the race is the chaotic political environment, the former governor said. He’ll hold a counter programming event during the debate on Wednesday night by appearing at a town hall with the Atlanta Young Republicans in Georgia.

“This is not just an unpredictable political environment, it's actually an explosive political environment,” Hutchinson said. “This could change dramatically, and you want to make sure you're part of the solution.”

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Against All Odds, Asa Hutchinson Intends to ‘Stick With It’