Cotton, GOP supporters form non-profit to advocate for conservative causes
by July 10, 2019 11:39 am 1,453 views
Republican supporters of U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., are forming a 501(c)(4) to promote conservative policies and to ward off more potential Democratic challengers to the first-term GOP senator.
On Wednesday (July 10), America One Policies filed paperwork with the Arkansas Secretary of State for the new organization. Officers listed include Ted Dickey, Peter Scobell and David Thompson, all of Little Rock. Jonathan Hiler of Alexandria, Virginia is the incorporator.
To date, Democrat Josh Mahony is the only announced Democratic challenger to Cotton, who reported raising $1 million last quarter and has $3.5 million cash-on-hand.
Cotton’s re-election bid is currently considered likely based on Arkansas’ political leanings and his national visibility.
Hiler is a former legislative director in Cotton’s office and a former advisor to Vice President Mike Pence. The group says it expects to raise $2 million in the 2020 election cycle and spend those resources on advocacy efforts around conservative issues, such as national security and free enterprise, which could help other federal and state Republican candidates on issue messaging.
The group has a web site, AmericaOnePolicies.com, which touts the rising national debt, news clips, and how to get involved.
“I think this effort shows that Tom Cotton has savvy outside supporters ready to boost his re-election campaign, which should give any Democratic challenger pause. They have to judge whether any time or effort invested will be worth it only to be beaten so badly,” said John Burris, a Little Rock-based lobbyist and former campaign aide to Cotton in 2014 who is working with the group.