Fourth District Candidates Debate On AETN

The four Congressional candidates vying for the seat currently held by Rep. Mike Ross (D) met for a final debate at AETN in Conway on Thursday.

Republican Tom Cotton, Democrat Gene Jeffress, Libertarian Bobby Tullis and Green Party nominee Joshua Drake squared off in the hour-long forum.

John Lyon with our content partner, the Arkansas News Bureau, reports:

During a debate Thursday between the 4th District congressional candidates, Republican Tom Cotton mentioned Obama so many times that Democratic state Sen. Gene Jeffress wondered if Cotton was trying to run against the president.

“We’ve got two paths,” Cotton said. “We can have the path that Barack Obama has led us down for four years, the path of statism and cronyism, of decline and ultimately eclipse. … Or we can have the second path, the path that has always made America great and prosperous, the path of limited and constitutional government, of a free enterprise system for free people, of individual liberties, of American leadership and strength in the world.”

“I get the idea that Mr. Cotton may be running against Mr. Obama,” Jeffress said. “I’m not running for that office. I’m running for the 4th District of the state of Arkansas. I want to make it a better place to live.”

You can read Lyon’s full report here.

According to a recent Talk Business-Hendrix College Poll, Cotton held a commanding lead over his opponents.

In the Fourth Congressional District, among 509 likely voters with a margin of error of +/-4.3%:

Q. In the race for U.S. Congress, the candidates are Libertarian Bobby Tullis, Democrat Gene Jeffress, Green Party Candidate Joshua Drake, and Republican Tom Cotton.  For whom do you plan to vote for this November?

3%       Bobby Tullis
22%     Gene Jeffress
4%       Joshua Drake
51%     Tom Cotton
20%     Undecided