Senate Democrats’ campaign arm released a new ad on Tuesday featuring a domestic violence counselor condemning Rep. Tom Cotton’s (R-Ark.) vote against the Violence Against Women Act.
In the ad released by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), counselor Lindsey Oliver says that abused women would have limited access to resources had the vote gone Cotton’s way.
{mosads}”The Violence Against Women Act helps women get the resources that they need. When Tom Cotton voted against it, he turned his back on Arkansas women,” Oliver says in the ad.
Cotton, who is running to unseat Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) in one of the year’s most competitive Senate races, voted against reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act last year because he thought it was too broad.
Cotton’s campaign website argues that Democrats have been taking his vote out of context.
“This attack on Tom Cotton is as shameless as it is untrue. Tom Cotton supports strong criminal punishment against anyone who commits an act of domestic violence or sexual assault,” his website says.
The DSCC released another ad last week featuring a domestic violence survivor who calls Cotton’s vote “upsetting.”
“When I hear that Tom Cotton voted against something that could protect women, it’s upsetting. He would leave women like me with nowhere to turn,” Stacy Malcum, a domestic violence survivor, says in the ad.