U.S. Senate · Arkansas

Sen. Tom Cotton

Republican Serving since Jan. 6, 2015Term ends Jan. 3, 2027Missed 2% of votes (14 of 915) · How this is measured
Compare Download image (PNG) Official website ↗
Votes with own party 100% About as expected Higher than 28 of 53 Senate Republicans Votes with the President 100% About as expected 100% on legislation only Bipartisan bills led 22 More than 19% of Senate members Liberal-to-conservative rank 78thpercentile in all of Congress · 58th percentile among Republicans

Where they sit

Seated by voting record in the Senate. Percentiles run from 0 (most liberal) to 100 (most conservative).

How this is measured →
Cotton
← Most liberalThe aisleMost conservative →
Votes with DemocratsCrosses party linesVotes with Republicans

Tom Cotton's seat is marked. Seats run from most liberal (left) to most conservative (right). Color shows how often each member crosses party lines toward the middle on votes that divide the parties: solid blue or red means almost never, and purple means on at least 1 in 10 of those votes. Gray seats are members too new to score. How this is measured

All of Congress78thpercentile
More conservative than 78% of all members of Congress.
Most liberalMost conservative
115th most conservative of 531
Republicans in Congress58thpercentile
More conservative than 57% of Republicans in Congress.
Most liberalMost conservative
115th most conservative of 272
The Senate76thpercentile
More conservative than 75% of Senate members.
Most liberalMost conservative
25th most conservative of 100

This score measures who votes with whom. A member who votes no because a bill goes too far, or not far enough, can look more moderate than their views.

With their party and with the President

How this is measured →
Votes with own party
100%
Q1 2025: 100% → Q3 2026: 100%

Higher than 28 of 53 Senate Republicans.

Actual100%
Expected99%
DifferenceAbout the same

Expected is the typical score for senators of the same party whose states voted like this one for president in 2024.

Democrats Republicans 65%100%

Each line is one Senate member, grouped by party. The dot is Tom Cotton. The dark line is what we'd expect given how this state voted for president in 2024.

On 828 votes that split the partiesReal votes only: 100%See the 828 votes
How this is measured
Votes with the President
100%all votes
Q1 2025: 100% → Q3 2026: 100%

Highest of all 53 Senate Republicans.

Actual100%
Expected99%
DifferenceAbout the same

Expected is the typical score for senators of the same party whose states voted like this one for president in 2024.

Democrats Republicans 0%100%

Each line is one Senate member, grouped by party. The dot is Tom Cotton. The dark line is what we'd expect given how this state voted for president in 2024.

Based on 301 votes100% on legislation onlySee the 301 votes
How this is measured

Where they broke ranks

Votes where Tom Cotton went against most of their party or against the President's stated position.

Every vote

Every roll call in the Senate this Congress, with how Tom Cotton voted, how their party voted and the President's position.

How this is measured
DateVoteTheir voteMost of their partyPresident wantedResult
Loading…

A dash means the parties didn't split on that vote, or the President took no public position before it. “Party-line” and “President took a position” list exactly the votes each score counts: the ones cast Yes or No. Missed votes don't count either way and are under “Missed”.

Votes most like

Tom Cotton and John Boozman voted the same way on 99% of votes.

Arkansas

Arkansas's delegation →

How Arkansas voted for president in 2024

Harris 33.6%Trump 64.2%

Issue by issue

How often Tom Cotton votes with their party, and with the President, on each kind of issue. Issues are the policy areas Congress assigns to each bill. "With their party" counts only votes where most Democrats and most Republicans voted on opposite sides; "With the President" counts only votes where he took a public position first.

Tom Cotton votes with their party about equally often on every issue.

Tom CottonAverage for Senate Republicans
  1. Economics and Public Finance 99%Average 96% · 184 votes
  2. Nominations 100%Average 100% · 440 votes
  3. International Affairs 100%Average 97% · 31 votes
  4. Immigration 100%Average 96% · 34 votes
  5. Environmental Protection 100%Average 100% · 18 votes
  6. Public Lands and Natural Resources 100%Average 99% · 14 votes
  7. Energy 100%Average 100% · 13 votes
  8. Finance and Financial Sector 100%Average 97% · 17 votes
  9. Government Operations and Politics 100%Average 99% · 13 votes
  10. Congress 100%Average 100% · 13 votes
  11. Transportation and Public Works 100%Average 100% · 12 votes
  12. Foreign Trade and International Finance 100%Average 94% · 6 votes
  13. Armed Forces and National Security 100%Average 95% · 10 votes
  14. Taxation 100%Average 99% · 7 votes

Fewer than 5 party-line votes, so not charted: Sports and Recreation (4 votes), Health (4 votes), Emergency Management (2 votes), Science, Technology, Communications (2 votes), Education (2 votes), Crime and Law Enforcement (1 vote), Families (1 vote).

Bipartisan bills led

2 passed their chamber · 2 became law

How this is measured →
How far each bill got:IntroducedPassed one chamberPassed both chambersBecame law

Contact and committees

Contact

D.C. office phone
202-224-2353
Office
326 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510
Official website
www.cotton.senate.gov
Contact form
www.cotton.senate.gov

Committees

  • Select Committee on Intelligence Chair
  • Committee on Armed Services
    4 subcommittees
    • Airland
    • Cybersecurity
    • Emerging Threats and Capabilities
    • Strategic Forces
  • Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
    2 subcommittees
    • Energy
    • Public Lands, Forests, and Mining
  • Joint Economic Committee

Committee data: the congress-legislators project (public domain), refreshed with every update. Chair and ranking-member roles as published there.

Votes: Voteview (UCLA). Bills: Congress.gov. President's positions: our public list. 2024 results by district: The Downballot. How this is measured · Corrections

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