Congress is out of session until Monday, November 9 for the midterm campaign. No new roll-call votes until then; the last were the House on Sep 16 and the Senate on Sep 30.

U.S. Senator from Arkansas · Class II

Tom Cotton

Republican 2nd term On 2026 ballot Chair · Select Committee on Intelligence

From public records: votes from Voteview, bills from congress.gov, money from FEC filings · votes updated Nov 4, 2026 · How we measure

Campaign money, 2025–26$7.1M raised · top PACs: Young Victory Committee, Altria Group, American Bankers Association Breaks with Republicans most onEconomics and Public Finance: broke on 2 of 184 party-line votes (1%; most Republicans: 1%)
100LoyaltyMed 100
98AttendMed 98
9BipartMed 9
2BreaksMed 2
In office
Senate 2015–now
House 2013–2015
13 years in CongressMore senior than 42% of the Senate
Committees
  • Select Committee on Intelligence Chair
  • Armed Services 3rd majority
  • Energy and Natural Resources 5th majority
Age
49

2026 election

On the November ballot
General election Nov 3, 2026

Facing

See the full race

Activity

119th CongressJan 3, 2025 to Nov 4, 2026Method
By week
Statements
Bills introduced
Roll calls
Breaks with party
By yearStatementsStmtsBills sponsoredSpons.Bills passedPassedCosponsoredCospon.Roll callsVotesBreaks with partyBreaks
119th Congress2025–26, to date2149711959152
118th Congress2023–24not tracked—72027369113

Counts, not a score: statements as the Statements tab counts them, bills by introduction date, roll calls the member voted in, breaks on party-line votes.

1

What does he focus on?

MethodIssues tab →
Armed Forces and National Security 31% 12%
Crime and Law Enforcement 8% 11%
Immigration 9% 13%

StatementsBills

Words go to Armed Forces and National Security, Science, Technology, Communications and Immigration; bills go to Immigration and Armed Forces and National Security.

  • He talks most about: Armed Forces & National Security (Armed Forces and National Security), Immigration Enforcement (Immigration), Cybersecurity (Science, Technology, Communications), Military Readiness (Armed Forces and National Security), Government Accountability (Government Operations and Politics).
  • 97 bills sponsored, most on Immigration.
2

Does he have influence?

MethodBackground tab →
ChairSelect Committee on IntelligenceFull committee
ChairSenate Republican ConferenceParty leadership · Since Jan 2025
MemberJoint Economic Committee2nd majority
MemberArmed Services Committee3rd majority

+1 more on Background

Chair of the Select Committee on Intelligence, more senior than 42% of the Senate, in the majority.

  • 13 years in Congress: more senior than 42% of the Senate.
  • Majority: Republicans hold 53 of 100 seats.
5

Who does he work with?

MethodWho votes alike →

His cosponsorships on Democratic bills

12% · peer median 19%

Closest across the aisle

Closest across the aisle Pro The members of the other party who vote most like Cotton.

Free account See Pro

Agreement on contested votes where both cast yea or nay, this Congress · Voteview

12% of his cosponsorships go to Democratic bills (peer median 19%); closest in his party: Armstrong and Justice.

  • Other-party share of cosponsors on his own bills: not yet tracked.
  • Caucus memberships: not yet tracked.
3

Can he get things done?

MethodBills tab →

His billsExpected for a peer

Introduced 93 · expected 50
Action in committee 4 · expected 8
Beyond committee 3 · expected 6.5
Passed Senate 1 · expected 1
Became law 1 · expected 1
EffectivenessRank 24 of 100 in the Senate

1.24expected 1.11 · average member 1.00

1 of 93 bills passed the Senate; 1 became law; effectiveness 1.24 against a peer median of 1.11.

  • On the move: S. 4465 (became law), S. 1552 (out of committee).
  • Amendments offered and adopted, earmarks in dollars: not yet tracked.

119th Congress so far · bills from congress.gov

4

Where does he stand?

MethodVotes tab →
Position, all votesDW-NOMINATE +0.58

With his party on all 15 areas with 10 or more party-line votes so far.

Major bills of the Congress · final passage

Voted with his party on 10 of the 10 he voted on.

The same ten bills on every profile, chosen by a rule from the roll calls, statements and lobbying filings on file · Method · party column: Republicans yea–nay on that roll call.

Votes with Republicans on 100% of party-line votes, breaks 2 times (peer median 4).

  • Position: +0.58, inside the Republican middle 80%.
  • Most breaks by area: Economics and Public Finance 2 of 184.

Distance from party, not an ideology score · areas under 10 party-line votes not shown.

6

Who backs him?

MethodMoney tab →

Where the money comes from, 2025–26

Cotton$7.1M raised15%35%19%31%
Senate median$3.0M raised23%28%15%19%

Small-dollar individualsLarge individualsPACs and other committeesTransfers and other

Small-dollargifts of $200 or less

50% of what he raised came from individuals; 15% came in gifts of $200 or less (chamber median 23%).

$7.1M raised, 19% from PACs and other committees (chamber median 15%).

  • Last general election for the seat (2020): won by 33.1 points.

84 PACs of the 187 that gave belong to organizations that lobbied on bills he faced a vote on, cosponsored or sponsored.

Top lobbying issues of the organizations behind the PACs that gave to him: Taxation, Budget/Appropriations and Trade.

  1. Young Victory Committee0% D
  2. Altria Group23% D
  3. American Bankers Association38% D

What each PAC gave Pro Amounts, the full list and each organization’s lobbying are part of Pro.

Free account See Pro

Party split is the PAC’s giving to all federal candidates · FEC

What those organizations lobby on

97 bills

Cotton voted Yea on 14, Nay on 1, did not vote on 2, and sponsored or cosponsored 80 with no recorded vote.

7

Do his words match his actions?

MethodPositions tab →

Positions are being checked before they go public; this question fills in when they are.