Tom Cotton

Tom Cotton grew up on his family’s cattle farm in Yell County and graduated from Dardanelle High School.¹ He went on to Harvard and Harvard Law School, then worked for a federal appeals court judge and in private law practice.¹ He and his wife, Anna, have two sons, Gabriel and Daniel.¹

Cotton cites the September 11 attacks as his reason for leaving law for the Army, where he served nearly five years on active duty as an infantry officer.¹ He deployed to Iraq with the 101st Airborne Division and to Afghanistan with a Provincial Reconstruction Team.¹ Between the two tours, he served with The Old Guard at Arlington National Cemetery.¹ His decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge and Ranger Tab.¹

After the Army, he worked for McKinsey before serving one term in the House of Representatives.¹ He won his Senate seat in 2014 against incumbent Democrat Mark Pryor and was reelected in 2020.² He now chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Senate Republican Conference, making him the third ranking Republican in the chamber’s leadership.¹

Running against Democrat Hallie Shoffner, Cotton supports border enforcement, defense investment and Trump’s 2025 tax and spending law.³ That law reduces Medicaid spending; Shoffner wants funding restored, putting health coverage among the concrete policy differences in their contest.³ Libertarian Jeff Wadlin is also on the ballot.³