Five third-party races to follow in Tuesday’s election

Arkansas U.S. Senate election: Tom Cotton (R), Ricky Dale Harrington Jr. (L)

This political race is really confusing to political insiders and political outsiders alike. Why is Republican Sen. Tom Cotton bothering to seek re-election? If he wants another six-year term, then why is he campaigning for the 2024 presidential election? Why is Cotton jockeying for a nomination bid that’s four years out?

Meanwhile, Libertarian Ricky Dale Harrington, Jr. is actively campaigning as the lone opponent to Cotton. This is the result of there being no Democrat in this race.

Cotton did not appear at a single debate this cycle. Even worse, Cotton would refuse participation in a debate held by Arkansas PBS. For the sake of transparency, Arkansas PBS would still hold the event. As a result, it was a 90-minute conversation between journalists, Harrington and the people of Arkansas.

Another relative close polling race

Although there are very few reliable polls in this race, an internal poll from the Harrington campaign had him within 11 points of Cotton, 49% to 38%. However, this was with 13% of those polled being undecided.

Cotton does not have a single endorsement listing for his re-election bid. However, it might not mean there was not one, but it is possible that the endorsements were not public.

In contrast, Harrington has endorsements from the Libertarian POTUS and VP nominees Jo Jorgensen and Cohen. Additionally, he has an endorsement from the lone Libertarian in the U.S. House, Rep. Justin Amash.