Republican Rep. Tom Cotton has defeated Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor in Arkansas , according to a CNN projection . The win is one of six seats Republicans need to pick up to regain control of the Senate . Like other Democrats in contentious Senate races this cycle , Pryor has struggled to distance himself from President Barack Obama , who is hugely unpopular in the state -- only 34 % of voters in Arkansas approved of Obama , according to a CNN/ORC poll . Even Arkansas ' favorite son could n't give Pryor enough of a boost . President Bill Clinton had swung through the state more than a half-dozen times this cycle , again stumping with Pryor in the state this weekend . But Pryor 's struggles seemed to go beyond what any surrogate could fix , with the two-term Arkansas senator stumbling on a softball question on the president 's handling of the Ebola disease . `` Um ... I would say that ... it 's hard to know , uh , because I have n't heard the latest briefing on that to know all the details -- I mean , I read the paper and all but , '' Pryor said in an interview last month . And that came just over a month after his campaign ran an ad attacking his opponent for voting `` against preparing America for pandemics like Ebola , '' which was widely panned as misleading . Cotton faced his most stinging criticism over his opposition to reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act . Pryor slammed Cotton for voting against the bill in a brutal campaign and that claimed Cotton does n't want `` to protect women and children . '' Cotton defended his vote against the bill , calling the law `` too broad '' in scope . But while 138 Republicans also joined Cotton in voting against the final version of the bill , Cotton also voted against an earlier Republican proposal -- the only Arkansas Republican to do so .
After two term in the House , Republicans Tom Cotton is headed for the Senate . Senate defeated two -term Sen. Mark Pryor , who could n't overcome Senate 's unpopularity in the state . The win is two of six seats Republicans needed if they are to regain control of the Senate .