Senator · AR · Republican · since Jan 2013

Tom Cotton

Bills authored 43Missed votes 4 of 214Party unity 72% derived

Counted from 214 roll calls and 127 sponsorship records on file.

Provisionalunreviewed: stated positions

Stray indexpending review

Who they are · every sentence carries its source

Before the votes, a life.

Thomas Bryant Cotton was born in 1977 in Dardanelle, Arkansas, and grew up on his family's cattle farm.^{Source 3: Wikipedia: Tom Cotton} He graduated from Harvard College in 1998 and earned a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 2002.^{Source 3: Wikipedia: Tom Cotton} After clerking for a federal judge and working in private legal practice, he enlisted in the United States Army in 2005, serving combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan before joining a management consulting firm.^{Source 3: Wikipedia: Tom Cotton}

Cotton began his political career by winning election to the United States House of Representatives for Arkansas's 4th congressional district in 2012.^{Source 3: Wikipedia: Tom Cotton} He was elected to the United States Senate in 2014 and won reelection in 2020.^{Source 1: Tom Cotton — Biographical Directory of the United States Congress}^{Source 3: Wikipedia: Tom Cotton}

In their own words

No statement of their own met that rule yet.

One rule for every member: their most recent dated, linkable statement about themselves.

The path here

1998
Graduated from Harvard College.^{Source 3: Wikipedia: Tom Cotton}
2002
Earned a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.^{Source 3: Wikipedia: Tom Cotton}
2005-2009
Served on active duty in the United States Army.^{Source 3: Wikipedia: Tom Cotton}
2013-2015
Served in the United States House of Representatives for Arkansas's 4th congressional district.^{Source 3: Wikipedia: Tom Cotton}
2015-Present
Serving as United States Senator from Arkansas.^{Source 1: Tom Cotton — Biographical Directory of the United States Congress}^{Source 3: Wikipedia: Tom Cotton}

Next election: Nov 3, 2026general · in 51 days

98.13% attendance · all roll calls we have ingested

2 sources

1Tom Cotton — Biographical Directory of the United States Congressbioguideopen source
3Wikipedia: Tom Cottonwikipediaopen source archived copy

Full record card

The record card · sourced from Bioguide, the Clerk and the FEC

13.7YRS

In office · 3rd term · since Jan 2013

We hold certified results for U.S. House seats only.

98.13%

Attendance

senate median 98.13% (100 members)

NOV'26

Next election · general

in 51 days

Figures cover all roll calls we have ingested.

Before Congress

1998 Graduated from Harvard College.
2002 Earned a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.
2005-2009 Served on active duty in the United States Army.
2013-2015 Served in the United States House of Representatives for Arkansas's 4th congressional district.
2015-Present Serving as United States Senator from Arkansas.

Senate Select Committee on Intelligence chairJoint Economic CommitteeSenate Committee on Armed ServicesSenate Committee on Energy and Natural ResourcesSenate Committee on Armed Services · Airland subcommitteeSenate Committee on Armed Services · Cybersecurity subcommitteeSenate Committee on Armed Services · Emerging Threats and Capabilities subcommitteeSenate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources · Energy subcommitteeSenate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources · Public Lands, Forests, and Mining subcommitteeSenate Committee on Armed Services · Strategic Forces subcommittee43 bills authored · 1 enacted

Says vs. does · 72 issues in 6 clusters

Stated position vs. voting record.

The dashed shape is what they campaigned on. The solid shape is how they voted. Where the shapes separate, the record differs from the platform. The distance is measured. What it means is up to you.

SaysDoes

Rim = strongest position on each cluster’s named pole · Same scale for every member · How we score ▸

pending review

The stats, cluster by cluster

6 clusters · 72 issues · sorted by gap size

Each rail runs between two positions real bills take. ○ marks what they campaigned on; ▪ marks how they voted. Select a cluster to open its issues.

GapSorted by gap size · How we score ▸

Receipts · recent votes on passage

How they voted.

Money & ties

Who's behind them.

How complete is this money picture?

46%of the money categories we track are publicly disclosed for this member, counting those that lawfully lag.

Campaign financeThrough Jun 30, 2026Current · 34%
Corporate-PAC shareNot yet derived · 22%
Disclosed tradesLagged · 12%
Lobbyist meetingsNot disclosed · 32%

Disclosed by the FEC; we have not built the honest derivation — same for every member.

Members must disclose trades within 45 days; this picture is always at least that far behind.

A gap in the disclosure system, not a statement about this member — lobbyist meetings are not federally disclosed for any member of Congress.

Weights are fixed product-wide and disclosed, so this percentage is comparable across members.

Who funds them · 2026 cycle · FEC through Jun 30, 2026

$6.2MTotal raised · 1 ▪ = $200.0K · 32 units, rounded up

PAC contributions$1.1M · 18.1%
Itemized individual$2.6M · 42.1%
Small-dollar (≤$200)$552.2K · 8.9%
All other$1.9M · 31.0%

FEC filing totals ↗

Disclosed trades

We hold no disclosed-trade filings for this member. That is a gap in what we have loaded; it does not mean none were filed.

FEC OpenFEC · disclosed trades: House Clerk / Senate filings.

Ideology placement

Economic (dim 1)0.577

Social (dim 2)0.201

Voteview DW-NOMINATE · retrieved Sep 7, 2026 — an external attributed reference, shown as context.

Checking your session…