Cotton turns Arkansas 4th Congressional District red

Arkansas Republicans flipped another of the state's Democratic congressional seats when political newcomer Tom Cotton came out on top with 95,948 votes (59.21 percent) to Democrat state Sen Gene Jeffress' 59,947 (37 percent) in the race to fill the 4^th Congressional District seat being vacated by Democrat Rep. Mike Ross, who is retiring after serving 12 years in Congress.

  Green party nominee Joshua Drake and Libertarian nominee Bobby Tullis filled out the undercard receiving 3,3271 (2.02 percent) and 2,868 (1.77 percent) votes respectively.

  During the campaign, Cotton pledged to repeal the Affordable Care Act, despite the U.S. Supreme Court upholding it last summer, while Jeffress praised provisions extending benefits for children as well as coverage for those with pre-existing conditions.

  Cotton, who raised nearly $2 million, began television advertising soon after winning his party's nomination in the spring, even showing a commercial during a debate leading up to the Democratic primary runoff.

    Jeffress' ran his campaign the old-fashioned way, by political networking and word-of-mouth, complaining that millions shouldn't be spent to win a congressional seat.

  The 4th Congressional District, a southern Arkansas seat, was modified after the 2010 census to include portions of Republican-heavy northwestern Arkansas, something Jeffress used to his benefit, labeling Cotton an "outsider" to the core of the district.

    Cotton called Jeffress a "big government liberal."

   In announcing he would not seek re-election, Ross said that running in the now 33-county district was similar to running a statewide campaign.