Summary
GOP Sen. Tom Cotton, seeking a second term, is known to have national ambitions. We rate the race for U.S. Senate in Arkansas as Solid Republican.
Politico 11/19/19
OnAir Post: Arkansas – US Senate 2020 Election
News
Arkansas Online, – September 6, 2020
Sen. Tom Cotton’s claim the nation has an “under-incarceration problem” in May 2016 is “one of the No. 1 reasons I’m running,” Libertarian Party candidate Ricky Harrington Jr. told a crowd in Fayetteville on Saturday.
“I’m a Black man who has seen murderers of Black men escape the punishment of the law and who’s seen how inequitable incarceration is,” Harrington told a crowd of at least 40 before going out to meet voters at the Fayetteville Farmers’ Market on Saturday.
THV11 – August 28, 2020 (01:43)
Senator Tom Cotton – July 1, 2020 (16:39)
Tom Cotton
Current Position: US Senator since 2017
Affiliation: Republican
Candidate: 2020 US Senator
Tom Cotton is a United States Senator from Arkansas. Tom’s committees include the Banking Committee, where he chairs the Economic Policy Subcommittee, the Intelligence Committee, and the Armed Services Committee, where he chairs the Air Land Power Subcommittee.
Tom grew up on his family’s cattle farm in Yell County. He graduated from Dardanelle High School, Harvard, and Harvard Law School. After a clerkship with the U.S. Court of Appeals and private law practice, Tom left the law because of the September 11th attacks. Tom served nearly five years on active duty in the United States Army as an Infantry Officer.
For more information, see this Tom Cotton post.
Ricky Harrington
Current Position: Chaplain
Affiliation: Democrat
Candidate: 2020 US Senator
Mr. Harrington has served in various pastoral roles and spent an additional two years as a missionary in China as a university teacher and university hospital consultant. In 2016, he took a position as a chaplain and treatment coordinator at the Cummins Unit in Lincoln County.
Mr. Harrington has dedicated his life to serving other people. He will continue his service of the people of Arkansas as U.S. Senator for Arkansas.
For more information, see Ricky Harrington’s post.
Issues
Governance
Tom Cotton
N/A
Ricky Harrington
The United States’ current outstanding debt of $26 trillion, combined with the out of control deficit spending year after year proves that congress has absolutely no self-control and cannot be trusted with the ability to take out debt. I would wholeheartedly support an amendment to the constitution revoking the federal government’s permission from the people to take out debt in their name.
Dmoecracy
Tom Cotton
N/A
Ricky Harrington
Our rights are not given to us by the government, we are all born with certain inalienable rights no matter where on earth we are or to what degree they are respected where we live. Our constitution did not create our rights, it recognized them and banned government from ever encroaching on them. We must make sure that our freedom endures for future generations and hold the government accountable for its infringement upon the rights of American citizens.
Economy
Tom Cotton
Recent Years ‘The Best’ For Small Business
By Trent Ragar, Bentonville
As an entrepreneur for the past 14 years, I’m uniquely qualified to tell you that the recent liberal promises and policies are terrifying to me a s a small business owner. This isn’t your grandfathers Democratic party anymore, folks. I’m a native Arkansan and I can honestly say I’ve seen some of the best of times and the worst of times in this state’s history.
The last three years as a small business owner have been some of the best I can ever remember. Due to a record low unemployment rate in Arkansas of 3.4 percent, my single greatest issue over the past three years has been finding qualified workers. I’ll take that problem any day of the week over issues like open borders, the wacky Green New Deal, increased taxes and strict gun control- all extreme promises Josh Mahoney and his Democrat friends have made in the past two years.
This race is easy to predict and I can assure you the 200,000 small-business owners in Arkansas are to want to join me in supporting Tom Cotton for re-election in 2020.
Debt, Spending Votes Earn Cotton Support
By Melanie Elliott, Cave Springs
I’m an American citizen who is gravely concerned about our national spending and debt. As I review the past few years of bills and acts, nearly all spending increases have passed. Alarmingly, there’s no indication this trend is slowing down. Every person alive today, and those not yet born, are burdened by debt that was passed on from generations before. It is immoral and it should not continue.
In reviewing Sen. Tom Cotton’s voting record since 2015, I’m encouraged to see that the American people can depend on him to vote against spending increases in most cases (15 out of 20 times).
Sen. Cotton’s Democratic opponent is promoting “universal coverage” health care and
“free” two-year community college. Those were just the first two issues he addressed on his website, so what else might he have up his sleeve? More spending, more taxation and more debt for Americans, no doubt.
Let’s encourage Sen. Cotton to keep the American taxpayers debt burden at the top of his mind, and vote accordingly.
Please join me in voting to re-elect Sen. Tom Cotton.
Ricky Harrington
N/A
Environment
Tom Cotton
N/A
Ricky Harrington
Our actions have real measurable effects on our environment. Making money should not be placed above our responsibility to protect the natural resources for future generations. I encourage all people to do their part to reduce pollution and engage in conservation.
Health Care
Tom Cotton
N/A
Ricky Harrington
The fractures within the broken American healthcare system can not be fixed by government legislation or mandate. Many of the problems in our healthcare system are due to inefficiencies caused by over-regulation and protectionist policies that discourage competition and protect the largest providers from price-cutting competition. We must immediately repeal any regulation that discourages or prevents innovation in the delivery of care or creates unreasonable increase in costs. No new providers should ever be required to receive a “certificate of need,” as these artificially reduce healthcare providers in a given area. Legislation should encourage competition on the market, healthcare providers and patients to cut out the middle-men and deal directly with one another, and allow for the widest possible range of treatment to those in need.
Safety
Tom Cotton
N/A
Ricky Harrington
Every state that accepts block grant federal funds will be mandated to institute sweeping State and Federal criminal justice reforms, including a national standard for the release of public records (Freedom of Information Acts), nonviolent Crisis Intervention Training for all certified law enforcement officers, Civilian Advisory Boards to resolve citizen complaints against police, elimination of mandatory minimum sentences, and Federal legalization of marijuana.
Veterans
Tom Cotton
Tom Remembered Our Vets
By Dean McKenndree, Adona
I served for 29 years in three separate war zones, being severely injured in one and wounded in another. I am a 90 percent disabled American veteran, and I am seen at the North Little Rock VA. I know the horror stories of the past VA, but I wanted to write to talk about my recent personal experience.
My wife and I recently lost our 15-year old daughter to an unexpected yet immediate illness, and it was devastating. I decided to call the VA requesting someone to talk to about my loss, and I was given an immediate appointment. I was allowed to discuss my grief and was constantly reassured that I was not alone and that I wasn’t weak for seeking help. I was embarrassed to call, but I am so grateful that I did. I am treated as if I’m the only person to walk through those doors.
Because I’m so grateful for this help, I wanted to write this letter encouraging Arkansans to vote for Sen. Tom Cotton, who has kept his promise to me as a veteran and to my family through VA and military funding. Through a simple fundraiser, Senator Cotton looked me in the eye and promised to not leave our veterans behind, and he’s lived up to that. He’ll have my vote in 2020.
Ricky Harrington
N/A
