U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton married his girlfriend, Anna Peckham, over the weekend, though Cotton’s staff members said Monday they would not release many details.
News of the wedding spread after Cotton posted a wedding picture of himself and Peckham to the photo-sharing website Instagram on Sunday afternoon. The campaign released that photograph Monday along with a second picture of the couple cutting a three-tiered wedding cake with purple and white flowers.
Cotton, who represents Arkansas’ 4th District, is the Republican challenger for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Mark Pryor.
Cotton campaign spokesman David Ray said the wedding took place Saturday in front of a small group of family members and friends.
He said the couple would not release other details about the ceremony, including where it took place, because they wished to keep some aspects of the event private.
He said the couple are taking a honeymoon during the current congressional recess but would not say where they were going.
Ray said Peckham plans to change her name to Cotton, and the couple plan on “settling down and raising a family” in Arkansas. Cotton maintains a residence in Dardanelle, where his parents still live.
Peckham, 36, is an attorney in Virginia and grew up in rural Nebraska, the campaign confirmed Monday. A search of public records showed she has practiced law in several states, including as an assistant U.S. attorney in Montana.
Peckham earned her law degree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University in New York City, while Cotton received his from Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Mass.
Ray said a mutual friend encouraged Peckham to attend a luncheon that Cotton was scheduled to attend early last year and introduced the two.
Cotton said in previous interviews that the couple began dating in early 2013, and Ray said they became engaged in the fall.
Arkansas, Pages 11 on 03/18/2014