Peter Urban of the Stephens Washington Bureau has examinedU.S. Rep. Tom Cotton's voting record after less than a year in the House and finds it as striking as you might imagine.
On 26 roll calls, Cotton, though routinely in the Republican voting column, broke with the other three Republican members of the Arkansas House delegations. This included his famous vote against disaster aid for Hurricane Sandy victims.
Few others break rank so often. The article noted:
While no one in the House voted exactly the same way, three members matched him on 20 of 26 roll calls:—Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., a self-professed budget hawk, earned an A+ rating from the conservative Club for Growth during the 112th Congress.
—Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., says his voting philosophy is built on a belief in limited government, economic freedom and individual liberty.
—Rep. Trey Radel, R-Fla., was a conservative talk show host before joining Congress.
This group was together in opposition to the farm bill, a measure supported by the other Republicans from Arkansas.
Three conservative groups — Heritage Action for America, Club for Growth and FreedomWorks — each issued legislative alerts expressing their opposition to the bill.Club for Growth has endorsed Cotton for Senate. Heritage Action for America is the political arm of the Heritage Foundation. Billionaire businessman David Koch founded FreedomWorks.
Here's the complete list of Cotton votes as an Arkansas outlier, even more conservative than his Arkansas GOP brethren. This includes votes against lower student loan costs, against federal support for air service to small communities, relief from high flood insurance costs, pediatric research and public health emergency aid.
U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, being challenged by Cotton for re-election, has commented:
“I don’t know who Mr. Cotton’s been voting for but it hasn’t been for Arkansas,”