Tom Cotton
Republican
· AR Senate · 119th Congress
Senate Republican Conf Chair · Senate Committee on Banking (Chair) · Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (Chair) · Joint Economic Committee · Senate Committee on Armed Services · and Urban Affairs · and Community Development · and Investment · Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources · and Mining · Senate Committee on the Judiciary · and Consumer Rights · and Border Safety
Influence Score
87.5
Most exposed
— ◊ —
This score measures financial influence across twelve categories. Each bar shows how this member compares to all others in Congress. Longer bars mean more exposure.
Score breakdown — twelve categories
Contributionsmoney from PACs (political action committees) and individual donors
5.6
/ 12
Outside spendingmoney spent by groups to help elect them
2.4
/ 6
Spent to help elect them
$1,628,089
Outside groups that spent to help elect this member — this drives the outside-spending bar above
Spent to defeat this member
$8,522
Outside groups that spent to defeat this member (not counted in this score)
Lobbyinghow hard lobbyists push the committees this member sits on
10.0
/ 10
Revolving door
former staff now working as lobbyists
0.0
/ 3
Vote alignmenthow often they vote the way their donors want
11.4
/ 12
Contribution timingmoney arriving near key votes
3.7
/ 6
Stock tradesbuying stocks in industries they regulate
0.0
/ 1
Dark moneyfunding from groups that hide their donors
0.0
/ 2
Outbound money distributionmoney this member sends out to the party and to colleagues
10.8
/ 16
Cluster network breadthhow many coordinated funding networks back this member
5.1
/ 10
Committee jurisdiction powerthe legislative reach of the committees this member sits on
10.0
/ 10
Foreign interestforeign-interest money — Israel-policy PACs and FARA-registered institutional lobbying allocated by committee jurisdiction
11.0
/ 12
Israel-policy PACs behind this score
AMERICAN ISRAEL PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
$9,994 direct
FARA institutional lobbying
This member’s committees are targeted by $47.81M in lobbying from FARA-registered firms representing South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia. This exposure is weighted at 0.2% of face value in the score — $96K.
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Score across four congresses
Score and tier for each Congress. Members are ranked against others in the same Congress, so tiers are comparable across rows. Raw scores reflect different data availability per Congress.
| Congress | Score | Tier |
|---|---|---|
| 116th · 2019-2021 | 65.8 | Moderately exposed |
| 117th · 2021-2023 | 76.0 | Highly exposed |
| 118th · 2023-2025 | 38.8 | Least exposed |
| 119th · 2025-2027 | 87.5 | Most exposed |
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Biggest funding source
The single network behind the most money and influence
Network
SPECIAL OPERATIONS FOR AMERICA
Total money from this network
$74,000
Number of funding networks contributing
1
— ◊ —
Where most of the money comes from
What share of their combined contributions and outside spending comes from a single network. Party committees are excluded.
Network
AMERICA ONE
Share from this one network
48.3%
Amount from this network
$1,256,200
Total from all networks
$2,599,175
Networks contributing
250
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Who funds Cotton
Every funding network we can measure, ranked by influence
$2,617,151
— ◊ —
Does the money match their power?
Whether their money comes from the industries their committees actually oversee
Money from industries they regulate
96.6%
Extra weight when money matches their committees
2.00×
Extra weight for leadership role
1.25×
Share of outside spending tied to their policy areas
0.0%
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Money timed to key votes
Donations arriving near key votes in the policy areas this member regulates
Times money arrived near a vote
14
Money that arrived near votes
$55K
Distinct donors
23
Distinct employers
11
Share of their total fundraising
3.03%
Biggest clusters of timed money
COHEN KLINGENSTEIN
$7K
BLACKSTONE
$7K
J W CHILDS ASSOCIATES
$7K
APOLLO MANAGEMENT
$6K
APOLLO MANAGEMENT
$6K
JAB CAPITAL MANAGEMENT
$5K
APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT
$4K
APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT
$4K
HUNTINGTON INGALLS INDUSTRIES
$2K
APOLLO MANAGEMENT
$2K
— ◊ —
Top Donors
Biggest sources of contributions, grouped by employer, this cycle
HOMEMAKER
$295K
INFORMATION REQUESTED PER BEST EFFORTS
$151K
HOMEMAKER
$143K
GOLDMAN SACHS
$110K
ENTREPRENEUR
$77K
INFORMATION REQUESTED PER BEST EFFORTS
$73K
BLACKSTONE
$60K
SOROBAN CAPITAL
$55K
STEPHENS
$49K
HOMEMAKER
$45K
STANDARD INDUSTRIES
$41K
APOLLO MANAGEMENT
$38K
BRODIE GENERATIONAL CAPITAL
$36K
APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT
$32K
PINE BLUFF SAND GRAVEL
$31K
GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL
$30K
KIRKLAND ELLIS LLP
$30K
PARADIGM
$30K
BLACKSTONE
$25K
FOCUS ROQ
$25K
Where the outside money comes from
How much of the outside spending for and against Tom Cotton comes from groups that disclose their donors versus groups that hide them
By funding network
AMERICA ONE
$1.26M
LAW ENFORCEMENT FOR A SAFER AMERICA PAC
$256K
HONORING AMERICAN LAW ENFORCEMENT PAC
$116K
THE LINCOLN PROJECT
$19K
REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP FUND INC.
$2K
EVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY VICTORY FUND (EVERYTOWN VICTORY FUND)
$862
INDIVISIBLE PROJECT INC.
$490
SENATE CONSERVATIVES ACTION
$334
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Pro-Israel network donors
This counts contributions to this member from individuals whose FEC filings also show contributions to one of the 16 pro-Israel political action committees tracked by the Index. It is a measure of donor overlap — not a claim about why any individual gave, and not part of the influence score.
466 individuals who also gave to pro-Israel PACs contributed $2.25M to Tom Cotton across 760 contributions.
Total from shared contributors
$2.25M
Shared contributors
466
Contributions
760
By cycle
| Cycle | Shared donors | Gifts | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 19 | 103 | $93K |
| 2024 | 26 | 92 | $287K |
| 2026 | 434 | 565 | $1.87M |
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Tom Cotton ranks among the most exposed members of this Congress — the top tier on the index. The markers run across several of the twelve categories for the same funding network: contributions, outside spending, lobbying inside the policy areas this member regulates, vote alignment, and contribution timing among them. The score measures financial exposure in the public record; it is not a finding of intent or wrongdoing.
Data: FEC (Federal Election Commission) filings · 118th–119th Congress · lobbying disclosures · VoteView recorded votes
All findings derived programmatically from public records · No prior knowledge required
All findings derived programmatically from public records · No prior knowledge required