Pryor Announces Women’s Coalition

Incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor rolled out a new campaign coalition on Thursday aimed at boosting his standing with female voters.

Pryor, who faces Republican challenger Cong. Tom Cotton, is seeking to highlight contrasts in his voting record on women’s issues as part of a larger campaign strategy to win female voters, who tend to have a slightly higher participation rate in elections.

The “Women for Pryor” coalition will be led by Lottie Shackelford, the former mayor of Little Rock and first woman elected to that post. Former State Treasurer and one-time Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jimmie Lou Fisher will co-chair the group with Shackelford.

“We want to make ‘Women for Pryor’ an active, working organization,” Shackelford said. “The bottom line is, if we’re going to win this, and we must, it means all of us working together, ‘Women for Mark Pryor.’”

Pryor rattled off a litany of votes and positions he has been showcasing for months to cast difference between Cotton and himself. Some of the votes and positions included paycheck fairness legislation, raising the state minimum wage, and the Violence Against Women Act.

In the most recent polling from Talk Business & Politics and Hendrix College, Pryor led Cotton among women voters by a 45-40% margin. Cotton had a larger lead over Pryor among male voters 49-37%.

David Ray, spokesman for Cotton For Senate, said the new coalition would not help Pryor with his record on additional issues important to female voters.

“Arkansas women know that the Obama-Pryor agenda has been bad for them and has increased costs of health care coverage, made it harder to find a job, and driven up the price of everything from gasoline to groceries,” Ray said. “Tom Cotton will be a senator who listens to all Arkansans, not one who simply rubber-stamps President Obama’s agenda.”