Election Central: Senate Race Front-and-Center

From the Election Central campaign trail and KATV’s Scott Inman, here are today’s political headlines:

COTTON, PRYOR ON OFFENSE

Republican Congressman Tom Cotton was on the offensive today, hammering Senator Mark Pryor over the way his campaign shot an ad, and debuting his own ad, that defends Cotton’s record on disaster relief.

We start with the Pryor ad.

The video, not aired on television, but posted on the website Vimeo, features Mayflower Mayor Randy Holland, Faulkner County Justice of the Peace Barbara Mathes, and a local homeowner and store owner. All of them criticize Cotton for not showing up to help in the days following the April 27th tornado that devastated Mayflower and Vilonia. They also criticize Cotton for voting against disaster relief in Congress.

The Cotton campaign released a letter from a local Mayflower business owner, Doug Boydston, which claims Pryor’s campaign shot the interviews on his property under false pretenses. Boydston claims Pryor’s campaign gave him the impression they wanted to come and help with the clean-up of his lot. His letter asks Pryor’s campaign to remove the portion of the video shot on his property.

Pryor’s campaign responded today and said out of respect for Boydston’s request, they will remove that portion of the video, but a spokesperson for the campaign maintains they had permission and did not mislead Boydston.

Meantime, Cotton’s campaign is using another Faulkner County official to defend his record. a new TV ad, released today, called “Recovery,” features Faulkner County Sheriff Andy Shock, who claims “despite what you’ve been told, Tom Cotton stood by us every step of the way.” The ad highlights three Cotton votes for disaster relief and FEMA funding. In the ad, Shock, seems to scold Pryor for, as he claims, “trying to use a tragedy for political gain.”

Pryor’s campaign also announcing the release of a new ad called “Heart,” meant to defend Pryor’s faith. Cotton you may remember accused Pryor last week of believing faith is “something that only happens at 11:00 on Sunday mornings.”

CROSSROADS COMMERCIAL
You’ll also likely see another ad on television this week from American Crossroads, a super PAC fronted by former President Bush advisor Karl Rove. The ad hammers Pryor on Obamacare again, and is part of a multi-state effort by the group to target vulnerable Senate Democrats. The Associated Press reports Crossroads plans to spend $20 million on ads nationwide this fall, including $2.5 million in Arkansas.

WESTERMAN IS A YOUNG GUN
The National Republican Congressional Committee announced today that Fourth District Congressional candidate Bruce Westerman has reached “Young Gun” status, the top tier of the committee’s three-level recruitment program. Westerman has reached the third and final level by establishing a clear path to victory through his ability to build a formidable campaign structure and achieve important goals and benchmarks.

He faces Democrat James Lee Witt this fall.