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Arkansas U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton to seek No. 3 Senate GOP leadership post • Iowa Capital Dispatch [1]
['Hunter Field ǀ Arkansas Advocate', 'More From Author', '- March']
Date: 2024-03
Arkansas U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton on Tuesday announced plans to run for Senate Republican Conference chair, the third-ranking GOP leadership position in the Senate.
Cotton’s announcement came as Republican senators are jostling for position after longtime Republican Leader Mitch McConnell last week announced plans to step down.
Cotton told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that he had been thinking about running for the post for some time, knowing that current Conference Chair Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo, is term-limited.
“I want to serve in whatever role can best help my Republican senator colleagues and President Trump achieve our shared goals,” Cotton told Hewitt. “Right now, I’ve had several colleagues encourage me to run for conference chair, which is the No. 3 position, dedicated to ensuring that we are advocating for conservative ideas and promoting the conservative message across the country.”
While Cotton is a close McConnell ally, his jump into the conference chair’s race caught some by surprise. The Dardanelle native doesn’t currently hold an elected leadership position in the caucus, which has typically seen current leaders move up the leadership continuum.
Indeed, Barrasso plans to run to become the next GOP whip, the No. 2 position being vacated by Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., who wants to succeed McConnell.
If elected by his Republican colleagues, Cotton would jump ahead of Republican Conference Vice Chair Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.V., and GOP Policy Chair Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa.
Ernst was bothered by Cotton’s announcement, telling POLITICO’s Burgess Everett that she would have appreciated a heads-up from Cotton.
“That would have been common courtesy,” Ernst said.
Sen. Ernst says she will decide on her leadership plans within a week or so. She says it’s fine that Cotton’s running for conference chair but would have appreciated a heads up “That would have been common courtesy” She’s currently No. 4 Senate R — Burgess Everett (@burgessev) March 5, 2024
The chair position Cotton seeks is over the formal organization of the GOP caucus in the Senate. The conference chair assists members with communications services and is often a mouthpiece for the party in the media and on the campaign trail.
Cotton told Hewitt at several points that, regardless of Senate politics, his main goal was to help former President Donald Trump win the presidential race and to help GOP Senate candidates running across the country “to make sure we’re electing a majority leader not a minority leader.”
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