Tea Party Endorses Cotton
By:
Updated: May 8, 2012
A conservative group that's been hammering Washington and the Obama Administration since President Obama took office has endorsed Republican candidate Tom Cotton.
At a news conference in Hot Springs on Tuesday morning, the Tea Party Express made the announcement.
"I was very grateful that they made a stop on their bus tour to Utah here to Arkansas to endorse me," Cotton said.
Cotton is running for House District 4.
One of his GOP opponents in that race, Beth Anne Rankin, attended the Tea Party event but left after the announcement.
"I did not ask for it," Rankin said afterward. "I would honestly have hoped that folks would have stayed out of a Republican primary (election) especially when they are not here on the ground."
The Tea Party so far has endorsed six other Republican candidates in six other states. Cotton's endorsement is the seventh so far this year.
In 2010, 52 Tea Party-backed candidates, incumbents and new comers, won their races.
The primary election in Arkansas is May 22.
