Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) launched his reelection bid Thursday, pledging to deport Hamas supporters and prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear capabilities.
Cotton—the chairman of both the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Senate Republican Conference—launched his 2026 reelection bid with support from every Arkansas statewide official, every member of Arkansas’s congressional delegation, and 108 out of 110 of Arkansas’s Republican state legislators, according to his campaign. Cotton enters the race for his third term with $8 million in cash on hand—a record-breaking sum for an Arkansas senator and more than three times what he had at this point in his 2020 campaign, when he won by 33 points.
"I'm grateful for the overwhelming support of Arkansans and want to keep serving them in the Senate by fighting to pass tough-on-crime laws, deport the Hamas-supporting lunatics, and stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon," Cotton told the Washington Free Beacon. "This will make Arkansas and America a safer place to live."
The congressman, an Army veteran, has also already acquired the endorsements of several fellow Republican senators, including Sen. Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania.
"Senator Cotton is an America first leader in the Senate who helped me win my race," McCormick said. "He’s tough on crime, he is deeply respected on national security issues, and he has my full endorsement to keep serving Arkansans."
Cotton, first elected to the Senate in 2014, was named a Free Beacon Man of the Year in 2018 for his unwavering stance against Democratic efforts to enact prison reform that would have freed violent offenders. Rather than yielding, Cotton launched a relentless, years-long campaign to spotlight America’s pressing "under-incarceration problem," championing public safety with resolute conviction.
He also earned an honorable mention for the prestigious award in 2020 for his steadfast commitment to law and order. That June, his op-ed in the New York Times urging President Donald Trump to "send in the troops" in response to violent unrest in America's cities led to a revolt in the publication’s newsroom, highlighting the liberal staff’s opposition to free speech.
So far, no Democrats have announced their intentions to challenge Cotton’s reelection bid.