Tom Cotton

VAN BUREN -- Senior citizens who dined at the Van Buren Senior Activity Center were among River Valley residents Friday who had a chance to hear, meet and speak with Hallie Shoffner, Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate.

Alice King of Van Buren was among audience members at the facility when Shoffner stopped by while making the rounds in Crawford County.

"You hear them every year. And you never know," King said about people running for political office, adding she doesn't know a lot about Shoffner's opponent, Sen. Tom Cotton, but has heard about him for years. "I think we need new blood a lot of time."

Shoffner of Newport is challenging incumbent Cotton of Dardanelle on the November ballot to represent Arkansas in Washington, D.C.

Military veteran Phil Hays of Van Buren talked to Shoffner during her visit. He's a regular at the senior center. He said afterward he thinks Arkansans have "got a champion" in the political newcomer.

"We're sick of the way things are going," Hays said.

Cotton, a U.S. Army combat veteran who grew up on his family's cattle farm in Yell County, won his first term with a victory over incumbent Mark Pryor in 2014. He has been endorsed in this race by President Donald Trump and Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, both also Republicans.

Shoffner grew up in east Arkansas, where her family farmed for 150 years. She and her family made the difficult decision to shut down the farm last year, she said, when the financials just didn't add up.

Shoffner said dealing with that and her father's dementia diagnosis has toughened her. She's not concerned being the newbie running against a longtime incumbent.

"Of all the things in this world to be afraid of, Tom Cotton is not on my list," Shoffner said. "Nobody in Washington is on my list. None of them.

"And I'm not going to be anybody's rubber stamp," she said. "I want to do what's right for Arkansas."

She's been endorsed as a candidate by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe, a Democrat, and the Arkansas American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO).

Cotton has far outraised Shoffner in the race, with millions in his campaign war chest. He's well known on the national scene, particularly among conservatives, and holds Senate leadership posts including serving as the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

He also chairs the Senate Republican Conference and is the third-highest-ranked Republican in the Senate.

"I'm grateful to carry the Republican banner once again," Cotton said after he won the March primary election. "I'm running to lower costs for Arkansas families, to continue rebuilding our military and bringing bringing jobs and investments home to Arkansas, and to make our state safer and more prosperous

"I look forward to earning the support of Arkansans in November and continuing to be your voice in the Senate," he said.

Shoffner said she is particularly concerned about Arkansans who are senior citizen age.

"Building resources out for places like this, where seniors can come and build a community, also means they're happier and healthier," she said. "Making sure that Social Security is keeping up with inflation will mean that our seniors aren't going to be reliant on meals on wheels.

"Tom Cotton wants our seniors to work until they drop dead. And that's wrong," Shoffner said.

Contacted Friday for comment while Shoffner made the rounds locally, a Cotton spokesman said Shoffner donated numerous times to former Vice President Kamala Harris, among other liberal Democrats.

"While Senator Cotton fights for Arkansas's conservative values and delivered billions in investments to the state, Hallie Shoffner said she would defund ICE and donate to socialist candidates like AOC," the spokesman said via email, referencing U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. "Hallie Shoffner's plan to defund ICE would make Arkansas less safe and is a reminder that Shoffner is too liberal for Arkansas.

"She would be a rubber stamp for Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, and Joe Biden," the Cotton spokesman said.

Ocasio-Cortez is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, which states they believe "working people should run both the economy and society democratically to meet human needs, not to make profits for a few," according to the group's website. The organization also states it is "of, by, and for the working class."

Speaking after gathering with seniors in Van Buren, Shoffner said voter concerns are being made clear to her both by what people bring up when talking to her and what they don't mention.

"Nobody is asking me about cultural issues," she said. "I've literally (had) thousands of conversations. I've been on the campaign trail for that long.

"People ask me about gas, groceries, senior care, children with disabilities, families that are absolutely drowning in medical debt," Shoffner said. "No one is asking me about anything else. All this noise on social media and on the national news. Nobody's asking me.

"Because Arkansans are suffering, and when we're waking up in the morning, we're worried about how do we feed our kids? How do we take care of our kids and our aging parents at the same time?" she said. "How on earth am I going to get to work when gas is $4 a gallon?

"That's what I'm hearing," Shoffner said. "Everything else is noise. And it's a lot of noise that Tom Cotton is making, and he's making it because he hasn't done the work. And we know it, and he's afraid, and I'm not."

The Senate hopeful said she is focused on all Arkansans.

"There's one litmus test," Shoffner said. "Does this conversation -- does this vote -- make life better, safer, and more affordable for Arkansas?"

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On the Web

Democrat Hallie Shoffner's U.S. Senate campaign web page: www.hallieshoffner.com

Republican Sen. Tom Cotton's reelection campaign web page: www.tomcotton.com

Penny Weaver can be reached by email at [email protected].