An Arkansas Lawmaker Is Already Nudging Sen. Cotton To Run For President

UNITED STATES - JANUARY 8: Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., heads to the Senate subway following a vote in the Capitol on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call) (CQ Roll Call via AP Images)
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An Arkansas lawmaker already has Sen. Tom Cotton’s (R-AR) prospects in 2020 on his mind. State Sen. Bart Hester (R) introduced legislation that would let candidates appear on the ballot simultaneously as House or Senate candidates and presidential candidates as well.

Hester specifically mentioned Cotton when discussing the bill.

“Tom Cotton would be my current idea of someone who should be afforded this opportunity,” Hester said, according to the Associated Press. “Politics, if I’ve learned anything, it changes every day and there could be the great next hope show up tomorrow. But I don’t think it’s reasonable to say I wouldn’t be looking at Tom Cotton to have that opportunity.”

No other politician, including Cotton, urged Hester to propose the legislation, Hester said.

“He didn’t wave me off, but certainly didn’t say ‘go pass this bill,'” Hester said.

Cotton’s name has been mentioned as a possible leader of the Republican Party some day, but he’s only in his third month as a senator.

Cotton has been making headlines for crafting a letter signed by 47 Senate Republicans meant to undermine the Obama administration’s negotiations to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) recently won the support of state Republican party leaders to allow him to run for president and re-election at the same time. Kentucky state law bars a candidate from appearing twice on the same ballot, but if the Kentucky Republican Party’s central committee signs off on Paul’s proposal in August, he can run for president and re-election in 2016.

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