Poll: Cotton Emerges as Frontrunner in GOP 4th District Race

Research conducted on Thursday, May 10 of 4th District Republican primary voters shows Cotton with a fairly substantial lead. A previous poll put the race at a dead heat:

51% Tom Cotton
6% John Cowart
33% Beth Anne Rankin
10% Don't know

According to Talk Business, the poll asked voters if they had already participated in the Republican primary and, if they did, respondents were asked to name the candidate for whom they voted. Additional poll participants included frequent GOP primary voters who said they intended to vote in this year's primary, according to Talk Business.

"From the beginning of the race for the GOP nomination in Arkansas' newly designed Fourth Congressional District, the question has been whether 2010 nominee Beth Anne Rankin's ties to the Republican base in the district would win out over the money that Tom Cotton could bring to the race," Dr. Jay Barth, with the Hendrix College Department of Politics and International Relations said. "Our polling suggests that Cotton's resources, employed on a strong media campaign, are paying off. He has now moved into a solid lead since our last poll which showed them essentially tied."

Barth added, "One thing of note: while the sample is small, Rankin is doing considerably better with those voters who have already cast an early vote in the election."

For more information on the polling including how it was conducted, click here.