Priorities differ for Senate rivals

The four candidates for Arkansas' U.S. Senate seat disagree on key issues and have differing priorities. These are some of the issues most talked about during the race.

Tom Cotton

Health care: He has voted to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. He advocates allowing people to shop across state lines for insurance, letting small businesses form purchasing pools to get better insurance rates for their employees and increasing the amount of money people can put in health-savings accounts.

Farm bill: He voted against the farm bill. He favors separating food-stamp funding from farm-related programs and wants more restrictions on qualifying for food stamps, something he says would reduce fraud.

Women's issues: He voted against the Violence Against Women Act, citing concerns about the constitutionality of the measure. He said he supports equal pay for women and that federal law already bars companies from discriminating against women in the workplace.

Education: He said he doesn't oppose federal student loans, but doesn't believe that the federal government should determine the loans' interest rates down to a decimal point.

Abortion: He describes himself as pro-life and supported federal legislation seeking to institute a 20-week ban on abortions.

Entitlement programs: He advocates keeping the current benefit levels for Social Security recipients and for those nearly old enough to qualify. He said he would look for changes in regard to future generations because of the program's projected insolvency.

Foreign policy: He calls for rebuilding the military in the wake of several rounds of cuts to the budgets and would increase the frequency of bombings in Syria. He said he would not rule out having troops on the ground there and would have left more troops in Iraq in opposition to the president's drawdown. Americans who have traveled to fight with the militants in Iraq, Syria and other countries should have their passports rescinded, he added.

Nathan LaFrance

Fiscal issues: He wants to pass a balanced-budget amendment that would eliminate deficit spending as an option for Congress. He also would work to eliminate the income tax and pass a flat tax, which would be a nationwide sales tax on goods consumed.

Campaign finance change: He wants to pass term limits for the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate to eliminate what he said is a constant cycle of fundraising and campaigning.

Abortion: He supports a system where states would have the flexibility to decide individual restrictions or cutoffs on when abortions could be performed.

Women's issues: He does not support federal paycheck fairness laws for women because he doesn't believe that is a proper role for the government. LaFrance said he would instead support programs to encourage girls to enter higher-paying career fields, starting with science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, education in middle school.

Benefits: He wants to phase out Social Security and Medicare entirely.

Health care: He would vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act. He believes that health insurance should be changed to resemble car insurance or homeowners insurance, usable in instances of catastrophe but not for maintenance or routine checkups.

Farm bill: He wants to eliminate the federal farm subsidies program and the federal food stamp program. He said if more money is returned to citizens, they would invest in charities that would take care of community needs.

Mark Pryor

Health care: He supported the Affordable Care Act and touts several components of that law, including allowing children to stay on their parents' insurance until they're 26, making it illegal to deny coverage on the basis of pre-existing conditions and closing the coverage gap on prescription drugs for senior citizens. He said he will continue to work to repeal the medical device tax, eliminate the independent payment advisory boards, and extend health care tax credits to churches and religious institutions.

Farm bill: He voted for the farm bill and supports the programs in it that promote rural broadband, market access for Arkansas farmers and energy efficiency. He said he would like to change the country-of-origin labeling program and the stockyard regulations that are in the bill.

Women's issues: He voted in favor of the Violence Against Women Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act, which promoted equal pay regardless of gender.

Education: He supported a bipartisan bill that stopped federal student loan interest rates from doubling. He also supported the federal loan forgiveness program for students planning careers in public education, military service and law enforcement.

Abortion: He describes himself as personally opposed to abortion. He said he would support a 20-week ban on abortions if a law was crafted that would survive a constitutional challenge.

Entitlement programs: He said he supports increasing the solvency of Social Security by raising the minimum wage [at the state level for now], and by combating fraud in the disability system. He said he does not support raising the age of eligibility.

Foreign policy: He supports arming and training rebels in Syria. He said he supports building a coalition of allies and the bombing campaign against the Islamic State.

Mark Swaney

Prison changes: He wants to abolish the death penalty throughout the country.

Women's issues: He said he will support equal rights legislation for women and legislation guaranteeing equal pay for women.

Gay rights: He supports same-sex marriage and workplace protection against discrimination that's based on sexual orientation.

Environment: He would work to pass a tax on carbon emissions.

Benefits: He supports passing a small tax increase to maintain Medicare and Social Security benefits in their current forms.

Wages: He supports the president's proposal to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, but said more increases would need to follow to get the minimum wage to "a living wage."

SundayMonday on 10/19/2014