A familiar face in Arkansas politics – former Governor and Senator David Pryor – is out on the campaign trail in support of his son Senator Mark Pryor’s reelection bid against Republican Tom Cotton.
At a campaign event in a North Little Rock coffee shop Tuesday morning the elder Pryor argued the influence of special interest money is unparalleled compared to when he held office.
“We’d never heard of some of these very, very influential wealthy, wealthy interest groups that try to implant their own philosophy in legislation. They did not exist at that time,” said Pryor.
He does acknowledge his son Mark’s re-election campaign benefits from out-of-state spending but contends Congressman Tom Cotton relies on it more heavily.
“They think they can come down here to Arkansas and buy this race, buy a seat in the Senate. I think the people of Arkansas are very independent. They’re going to show that we’ll vote our own conscience and our own beliefs. We don’t need the help of the Koch brothers and Karl Rove to help make our decisions for us. We’ll make our decisions ourselves,” said Pryor.
David Pryor has served as state Representative, Governor, US Representative, and US Senator. He was first elected in 1960 and retired from electoral office in 1997.
