Cotton kicks off Senate re-election bid; challenger Mahony makes Little Rock stop

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/JEFF MITCHEL - 08-01-2018 - Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton is interviewed in the newsroom of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, August 9, 2018.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/JEFF MITCHEL - 08-01-2018 - Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton is interviewed in the newsroom of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, August 9, 2018.

Sen. Tom Cotton officially launched his re-election campaign Saturday in Little Rock, saying he’s seeking a second term to expand upon the work of his first.

He pointed to a strong economy, two new conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices and increased military spending.

At a campaign event in front of a packed Republican Party of Arkansas headquarters, Cotton, a Republican from Dardanelle, said he planned to contrast his record over the next year with the Democratic Party agenda, which he said has grown more extreme.

Only one Democrat — Josh Mahony of Fayetteville — has announced a campaign to unseat Cotton, who was first elected to the Senate in 2014.

On Saturday, Mahony concluded his three-day campaign kickoff tour in Little Rock, saying Cotton has forgotten his Arkansas roots since going to Washington, D.C.

Cotton said he wants to work during a second term to put an end to illegal immigration and said Democrats’ immigration agenda is tantamount to open borders.

“The Democrats have lost their minds,” Cotton said.

The U.S. Senate seat will be on the line in the November 2020 election. It will be Cotton’s first race as an incumbent. If either Cotton or Mahony draw opponents for their party primaries, the partisan primary elections will be held in Arkansas on March 3.

Cotton, an attorney and former Army infantry officer, defeated Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor in 2014 after serving one term in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Mahony, a former small-business owner and nonprofit executive, ran unsuccessfully against U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., for Arkansas’ 3rd Congressional District seat in 2018.

Read more in Sunday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

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