Tom Cotton
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Tom Cotton (born May 13, 1977, Dardanelle, Arkansas, U.S.) is an American politician who was elected to the U.S. Senate as a Republican in 2014 and began representing Arkansas the following year. Cotton previously was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (2013â15). In 2026 he won a third term in the Senate, defeating Democrat Hallie Shoffner in the general election.
- In full: Thomas Bryant Cotton
- Born: May 13, 1977, Dardanelle, Arkansas, U.S.
- Title/Office: U.S. Senator, Arkansas (2015â )
- Political affiliation: Republican Party
- Education: Harvard University (A.B., 1998; J.D., 2002)
Education and military career
Cotton was raised on a cattle farm near the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas. He attended Harvard University (A.B., 1998) and then Harvard Law School, from which he graduated in 2002. After working as a clerk for the Fifth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals, he briefly practiced law privately before enlisting in the U.S. Army in 2005. Declining an offer to serve as a military lawyer, he became an infantry officer and underwent training as a ranger. He completed tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan and later served in the United States as a platoon leader in the Old Guard, the military unit responsible for conducting burial ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery. He earned the Bronze Star and Combat Infantryman Badge, among other awards.
Congress
House of Representatives
After leaving active duty in 2009, Cotton went to work for McKinsey & Company as a management consultant. Popular within the Tea Party movement, he ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012 and easily won the election. After taking office the following year, he pursued a conservative agenda, opposing same-sex marriage, gun control, and defense-spending cuts. He also voted against many of Pres. Barack Obamaâs initiatives, notably the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). In 2014 Cotton ran for the U.S. Senate, and he defeated the Democratic incumbent Mark Pryor in the hotly contested election.
Senate
In March 2015 Cotton made headlines after writing an open letter to the leaders of Iranâwhich was signed by most Republican senatorsâwarning that any nuclear deal made with the Obama administration would require congressional approval. Two months later Congress easily passed the proposed agreement, with Cotton being the only senator to vote against it. During the 2016 presidential election, he endorsed Donald Trump, who later won the general election. He subsequently supported a number of the presidentâs policies, including a massive tax reform bill that passed in 2017. The following year he applauded Trumpâs decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal.
In 2019 Trump was impeached by the House following allegations that he had extorted a foreign country to investigate one of his political rivals. The proceedings then moved to the Republican-controlled Senate, and in February 2020 Cotton voted for his acquittal; Trump was acquitted in a near party-line vote. During this time, the coronavirus was spreading around the world, eventually becoming a global pandemic. The countryâs economy entered a downturn that rivaled the Great Depression, and Cotton supported a $2 trillion relief package that was passed in March. Two months later, protestsâsome of which turned violentâerupted nationwide following a series of high-profile incidents that involved African Americans being killed by the police. Cotton controversially called for the U.S. military to be used to quell the unrest.
In November 2020 Cotton was elected to a second term in the Senate. In the presidential race, Trump was defeated by Joe Biden. However, Trump and other Republicans subsequently made unfounded allegations of widespread voter fraud. While Cotton expressed some concerns about the election, he opposed efforts by his party to challenge the electoral college vote. On January 6, 2021, Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol while members of Congress, including Cotton, met to certify Biden as the winner. Cotton later spoke out against the attack, but he opposed an independent commission to investigate the events of that day.
Cotton supported Trumpâs candidacy in the 2024 presidential election and was under consideration as a running mate. However, Trump instead picked JD Vance. After Trump was reelected, Cotton was reportedly offered positions in the administration, but he opted to remain in the Senate. In 2025 he became chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, which made him the third-highest ranking Republican in the Senate. That year Cotton also became chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. In 2026 he was a vocal supporter of the Iran War, which began when the United States and Israel attacked the country.
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Personal life
During his 2014 Senate campaign, Cotton married Anna Peckham, an attorney. The couple later had sons Gabriel and Daniel.