LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - While a student at the University of Arkansas in 1985, Sen. Mark Pryor (D) wrote his college thesis on the state of Arkansas' two-party system.
"The state's Republicans have traditionally failed to produce politicians that Arkansas would elect," he wrote. "The Democratic party, as a result, has thrived on a sort of perpetual motion."
That perpetual motion came to an end Tuesday night. Voters chose Republican Tom Cotton over Pryor, and for the first time in 141 years, there will be no Democrats in Arkansas' congressional delegation. Republicans also won the gubernatorial race and every other statewide race.
"Twelve years ago, the people of Arkansas gave me the greatest privilege of my life," Pryor said Tuesday at his campaign's election night party at the DoubleTree Hotel in Little Rock. He said he had called Cotton to "wish him the very best." "I want you to know he will be in my prayers," Pryor said.
Cotton, a 37-year-old Harvard and Harvard law grad and Army veteran who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, tied Pryor to President Obama throughout the campaign, saying Pryor voted with Obama 93 percent of the time. He was disciplined about his message too, using everything from Ebola to President Bill Clinton's visits to stump for Pryor to remind voters about Obama ("I'm not so worried about Bill Clinton's support for Mark Pryor. I'm more worried for Mark Pryor's support about Barack Obama," he and his spokesman would say when asked whether they were concerned about the still-popular Clinton's numerous campaign stops for Pryor in the campaign's final weeks).
"The state's Republicans have traditionally failed to produce politicians that Arkansas would elect," he wrote. "The Democratic party, as a result, has thrived on a sort of perpetual motion."
That perpetual motion came to an end Tuesday night. Voters chose Republican Tom Cotton over Pryor, and for the first time in 141 years, there will be no Democrats in Arkansas' congressional delegation. Republicans also won the gubernatorial race and every other statewide race.
"Twelve years ago, the people of Arkansas gave me the greatest privilege of my life," Pryor said Tuesday at his campaign's election night party at the DoubleTree Hotel in Little Rock. He said he had called Cotton to "wish him the very best." "I want you to know he will be in my prayers," Pryor said.
Cotton, a 37-year-old Harvard and Harvard law grad and Army veteran who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, tied Pryor to President Obama throughout the campaign, saying Pryor voted with Obama 93 percent of the time. He was disciplined about his message too, using everything from Ebola to President Bill Clinton's visits to stump for Pryor to remind voters about Obama ("I'm not so worried about Bill Clinton's support for Mark Pryor. I'm more worried for Mark Pryor's support about Barack Obama," he and his spokesman would say when asked whether they were concerned about the still-popular Clinton's numerous campaign stops for Pryor in the campaign's final weeks).
