Republicans ousted the senior senator from Arkansas today as Rep. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) defeated Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.).
CNN called the race moments ago.
Pryor sometimes defected to the GOP side on key Senate votes, and he tried to play up those centrist credentials in the race.
“Mark understands that no man, woman or political party has all the answers. Instead, by listening to Arkansans and reaching across the political aisle, he has a proven record of finding common ground and bipartisan solutions,” said his campaign website. “Putting Arkansas first, regardless of political consequences, is his trademark in the Senate.
But Cotton, a 37-year-old first-term congressman, played up Pryor’s connections to the policies of President Obama.
“After just a year in Washington, I’ve got bad news. It’s a whole lot worse than we thought. Both parties put off hard decisions. They keep on spending, and the debt just piles up. They just don’t get it,” Cotton said in an ad released Thursday. “If you like Washington today, I’m probably not your candidate. But if you’re ready to make things right, I’m ready to serve.”
Cotton began to open a comfortable lead over Pryor in September.
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