Cotton, Cowart, and Rankin File For The Fourth

Three Republicans filed their paperwork today to make their candidacies official for the Fourth Congressional District.  With no other announced Republican candidates, the field is likely set for the May 22 primary.

“I think the race is going really well,” said candidate Tom Cotton after filing his papers. “We have been campaigning hard across all thirty-three counties. Recently, we were endorsed by Marcus Richmond – a friend and former candidate in the race. We’ve been endorsed by the Conservative Victory Fund and the Club for Growth. And we are getting great grassroots responses in our county-by-county kickoffs all across the district.”

“I think the voters in the Fourth District are looking for a strong conservative leader that they can send to Washington – someone who is not just going to go along to get along, but someone who can stand up to Barack Obama and if need be the Republican Party leadership as well and do the right thing for the Fourth District, the state of Arkansas, and for conservative free market principles,” Cotton said.

So far, Cotton has a huge fundraising advantage over his opponents, having almost three times the cash-on-hand of Rankin, according to the most recent financial reports.  But that does not seem to bother Rankin, who instead points to her strong Arkansas roots.

“For Arkansas tradition, we are raising a tremendous amount of money especially going into a Republican primary,” said Rankin. “I know what means a lot to people who are in the Fourth Congressional District and the state of Arkansas across the board is the fact that almost 90 percent of our donors are in the state of Arkansas, and of that 90 percent about 80 percent are inside the Fourth District, so what that means is our financial base is voters.”

Rankin also seemed to contrast herself with Cotton saying she is a “seventh generation Arkansan who was born, educated, and raised inside the Fourth District and started a business in the Fourth District as an entrepreneur.”  But she admitted that “on the Republican side there aren’t any huge philosophical differences.”

“This was an effort I began in 2010 and I know Arkansans appreciate people who pay their dues, who are willing to work in the trenches for years and don’t just show up and run for office, but spend years and time developing a true effort in the state to be a difference maker,” said Rankin.

Also completing his paperwork today is lesser-known Republican candidate John Cowart, who paid his filing fee yesterday but did not complete his paperwork.  He returned to the capitol today and made his candidacy official.

The big question with three candidates in the race is:  Can a run off be avoided?  Both Cotton and Rankin told me that they were hopeful that they could win on May 22.

On the Democrats’ side, State Sen. Gene Jeffress is the only candidate to file so far. You can see my interview with him here.  I also spoke with D.C. Morrison who tells me he will file next week, likely on Tuesday. In addition, Democratic Party of Arkansas chairman Will Bond hinted that a third Democratic candidate may also file, although no one knows (or at least no one will tell me) who this mysterious candidate is.