In her first official campaign event since winning last week’s Arkansas’ Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate, Hallie Shoffner spoke to several dozen people Monday night (March 9) in the city of England, asking for financial support to counter negative attack ads against her.
In a meeting room at the England Fitness Center amid the sound of a nearby pickleball game being played, she thanked those who have given to her campaign, including many who wrote checks that night. To date, she said she has raised $1.3 million, but noted incumbent Republican Sen. Tom Cotton has outraised her campaign 10-to-1.
A quarterly campaign finance report submitted to the Federal Election Commission last month showed Cotton, who is vying for a third term, had $9.6 million cash on hand at the end of last year. $918,000 of that came from political action committees, the report said.
Shoffner asked the group who had seen recent ads running on television and online that interpose images of Shoffner with nationally-known Democrats while a voice says “Hallie Shoffner has the values of radical, liberal elites, not Arkansas families.” Text messages sent to the cell phones of some Arkansas voters described her as a “radical lunatic.”
“That kind of advertising works and that’s why we have to compete against it,” Shoffner said.
In an interview, Shoffner suggested the attacks show Cotton’s campaign is “scared — and they should be,” she said. “Tom Cotton is one of the most unpopular politicians in Arkansas and in DC — both — and they’re very concerned because we’re running a campaign that is all about the people.”
She told the group, which calls itself the England Area Democrats in Lonoke County, that the average donation to her campaign has been $50, “which means this is truly a grass roots campaign. We have thousands of donors, and most of them come from right here in the state.”
Shoffner added, “People know very well where Tom Cotton gets his money, which is corporate PACs, and most of that is from outside of the state. This is about Arkansas and believing we can be one of the most prosperous and healthy states in the country. And that’s the kind of vision I want to bring to the Senate.”
Cotton reported raising $590,000 in the fourth quarter of 2025, with $210,000 of that coming from political action committees. His campaign manager, state Sen. Breanne Davis (R-Russellville), has said donations came from all 75 counties in the state.
Shoffner asked each person in the room Monday to go out and find five people to talk to about her campaign and to ask each of them to make a donation. Then each of those people should also find five additional people to spread the word and give to her campaign, she said.
“We don’t want to get to November and wish we had done more, which is why I’m asking for your help,” Shoffner said. “We don’t have to outraise him, we simply have to outwork him. That’s not going to be hard — he doesn’t really go to work, and I’m a farmer — I can definitely outwork him. But we do have to bring in as much money as possible so that we can go on the air.”
Shoffner said this will be a shoe-leather campaign with her visiting as many communities and shaking as many hands as possible between now and the November election. But money will be necessary to effectively compete.
“This kind of feels like a fight now, as people may know,” Shoffner said. “If you’ve gotten certain text messages or seen certain ads, I’m really fighting. I am fighting on behalf of the state of Arkansas.”
Shoffner, a sixth-generation farmer from Newport, said her message about the damage being done to agriculture by President Donald Trump’s tariffs is resonating with people who had never previously voted in a Democratic primary. She shared the story of being at a friend’s campaign event Sunday in Waldenburg and talking with farmers who are facing similar dire situations as what forced her family farm to close.
Cotton posted on social media on March 4, the day after the primary election, that he had met that day with leaders of the Arkansas Farm Bureau to discuss agricultural interests and headwinds being faced by the industry.
“I’m honored to represent farmers across Arkansas and will keep fighting on their behalf,” Cotton wrote.
He has also backed the attacks on Iran by U.S. and Israeli forces, writing on X Tuesday, “I commend President Trump’s decision to mitigate the threat Iran has posted to the United States for 47 years.”
Shoffner said Monday she feels momentum heading into the general election.
“The numbers on primary night were very strong. We turned out more Democratic voters than we have in a long time and I’m really pleased with that,” Shoffner said. “I believe people are feeling the pain and I think that they believe they deserve representatives who will do better for them, who really represent them and I’m honored that they have put their faith in me in this race.”
Shoffner called Cotton a “resident of Virginia” who is out of touch with the challenges facing Arkansans. She said voters are tired of the rhetoric of the left and right and want a senator who will stand up for everyday Arkansans rather than corporate, political interests.
Shoffner is also challenging Cotton to participate in a debate with her. In his first reelection campaign for Senate in 2020, the Democratic Party did not field a candidate to challenge Cotton and the incumbent skipped a debate with Libertarian Party candidate Ricky Dale Harrington Jr. which was organized by Arkansas PBS. All other congressional incumbents and their opponents took part in that year’s debates.
Monday’s event was Shoffner’s second time to campaign in England. She had previously spoken to the group shortly before formally announcing her candidacy in July, “so we have come full circle,” she told its members.
Little Rock attorney Bob Edwards, who attended England High school and later served as president of the Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association, said he helped create the England Area Democrats in 2024 to fill a void in political activity there. Edwards said he’s encouraged by the excitement being generated by Shoffner’s campaign.
“I don’t think either party really understands farming,” he said. “Its been the backbone of this state’s economy since its inception. I don’t care if you’re a Republican or Democrat, we need somebody that understands that and Hallie understands that.”