HOT SPRINGS — Republican candidate Tom Cotton has won the GOP nomination for the U.S. House in the 4th District.
Cotton walked into his watch party shortly after 11 p.m., taking to the stage almost immediately after opponent Beth Anne Rankin's concession speech from Magnolia ended.
Cotton said he had received concession calls from Rankin and John Cowart in which both candidates pledged to support him in November. He then thanked dozens of supporters who gathered at The Austin hotel in Hot Springs, watching for hours as Cotton's lead gradually grew insurmountable as vote totals came in.
"You're the ones who have given me the help I've needed to win tonight," Cotton told the enthusiastic crowd.
Full results still weren't available at 11:30 p.m., but The Associated Press showed Cotton receiving 56 percent of the vote with nearly three-quarters of all votes counted. Rankin had 38 percent and Cowart 6 percent.
Cotton, before moving off stage and embracing supporters one by one, outlined a number of goals as he seeks election in November.
Among them, he said he would fight reckless deficit spending, work to develop a new tax code with lower and simpler rates, rebuild the military and repeal Obamacare, which he called "the greatest threat to our freedom to come from Congress in recent memory."
Cotton said his supporters would celebrate Tuesday and then turn full attention to the November election.
"We face a choice between two paths," Cotton said. "One is the path of President Obama, a path that is foreshadowed in Greece today ... The other path is the path of our founding fathers - the path that is illuminated by the Declaration and the Constitution. The path of prosperity and freedom, of American greatness and exceptionalism. Tonight you have chosen the second path - the path of freedom."