Arkansas junior U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton officially opened 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 kickoff event in front of a packed Republican Party headquarters, Cotton 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.
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 the party primaries, the partisan primary elections will be held in Arkansas on March 3.
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Cotton, an attorney and former Army infantry officer from Dardanelle, 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, lost his race against U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., for Arkansas' 3rd Congressional District seat in 2018.
Pollsters view Cotton as a big favorite in the race. Cotton also has a head start on fundraising, entering the 2020 election cycle with $3.5 million in the bank, according to his most recent campaign-finance report.
Mahony earlier this month reported having roughly $51,000 in the bank.
Last week, Mahony attacked Cotton for supporting President Donald Trump's tariffs, which prompted retaliations from foreign countries that have negatively affected Arkansas farmers.
Cotton on Saturday said the tariffs are a strategy to negotiate a better climate for Arkansas' agriculture industry.
"Arkansas farmers they know for 30 years lots of countries, especially China, have been discriminating against our farm products," Cotton said. "What the president is focusing on is using the threat of tariffs to get better long-term deals for Arkansas farmers. Not a deal for this week or this month, but for the next generation," Cotton said.
But, Mahony said telling farmers to take it on the chin is "ridiculous," and if the tariff war continues, Arkansas won't have any farmers left.
"You can negotiate deals without throwing the current deals out," he said.
He said that his campaign would focus on revitalizing rural Arkansas by stimulating more jobs that will allow skilled workers to stay in their hometowns. He also said he wanted to ensure that all Americans can afford adequate health insurance.
U.S. Sen. John Boozman, Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin, state Attorney General Leslie Rutledge and a host of other Republican state officials spoke in support of Cotton at his campaign event Saturday.
Boozman thanked Cotton for seeking re-election, noting that Cotton could succeed in the private sector or take a high-profile position in Trump's Cabinet if he so desired.
"Every time there's an opening [in the executive branch], people come to me and ask if Tom is interested," Boozman said.
Cotton said his main focus over the next year will be on his re-election and the elections of conservatives in Arkansas' congressional delegation and state Legislature. However, he said he'd probably campaign around the country as well, supporting Trump and Republican congressional candidates.
He asked those in attendance Saturday for their volunteer support, saying he wanted to build the largest grass-roots campaign the state had ever seen.
Meanwhile, state Sen. Joyce Elliott, D-Little Rock, introduced Mahony at his Little Rock event Saturday afternoon. Elliott, who is chairwoman of the Mahony campaign, implored supporters to work hard, and she said Democrats must try new strategies after weak ballot showings in Arkansas the past several election cycles.
"Don't play the same game because it hasn't been working," she said.
Cotton said two years of Republican majorities in both chambers in Congress and a Republican in the White House led to increases in defense spending, two Supreme Court justices and the repeal of the "individual mandate," which required individuals to pay a tax penalty if they didn't carry health insurance.
It also led to a thriving economy, an uptick in wages and low unemployment, Cotton said.
"That's the record on which I'm so eager to build and continue to serve the people of Arkansas," Cotton said. "And it's the reason I'm running for re-election."
Metro on 07/28/2019