HOT SPRINGS — Beth Anne Rankin said she expects to win Tuesday's primary for the Republican nomination to U.S. Congress in the Fourth District despite minimal policy differences between her and her two opponents.
Rankin, speaking before meeting lunchtime diners at McClard's Barbecue in Hot Springs, said she has full confidence she will win against Tom Cotton and John Cowart. The three candidates are vying for the Republican nomination to the seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Mike Ross. Three Democrats are also running in that party's primary.
"From the seven congressional debates that we have had, as far as of substantive issues, probably out of a dollar there might be 2 or 3 cents worth of difference," Rankin said. "This is a Republican primary. Most of the time you wouldn't find catastrophic differences. So it does come down to who is the candidate? Do we know the candidate?"
Rankin said voters will value the candidates by their connection to Arkansas as well as by "who is bankrolling the campaign." She said her donations largely come from within the state.
Rankin spent Tuesday morning and early afternoon campaigning in Hot Springs. She was expected to watch election returns from Magnolia. Cotton is scheduled to watch returns at The Austin Hotel in Hot Springs while Cowart said on his Twitter account that he was campaigning earlier Tuesday in Monticello.