Major funding for election 2026 Arkansas TV debates is provided by the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce.

From the campus of the University of Central Arkansas in the studios of Arkansas TV, it's election 2026, Arkansas TV debates and you in five, four, three, two one.

And hello again, everyone, and welcome to Debate Week here on Arkansas TV.

At this hour, the candidates for the United States Senate.

Two they are in alphabetical order.

Haley Schaffner, the Democratic candidate.

And Jeff Watling, the Libertarian Party nominee.

The Republican nominee and the incumbent, Senator Tom cotton, chose not to participate.

Questioning the candidates this hour.

Steve Bronner and independent journalist George Jarrett of Talk Business and Politics and Yuna Lee of 4029, Fayetteville.

And now, a little bit of housekeeping.

The rules.

Each nominee will have one minute to respond to a question.

The candidates will have 30s for rebuttal if they choose.

At the conclusion of questioning, each candidate will have one minute for a closing statement.

The order of appearances, podiums and the order of everything was determined prior to the debate.

With the toss, a coin which was observed by the candidates or their representative.

And now, with that little bit of business, time for our questioning to begin.

Our first comes from Euna Lee, and it goes first to Haley Schaffner.

This Schaffner Clinic's labor and delivery services are closing in Arkansas just recently in Fort Smith.

How would you address the shortage of medical services, doctors and other health care professionals in underserved Arkansas communities?

Well, thank you first to Arkansas today for having us.

And before I answer your question, I'd like to introduce myself very quickly.

My name is Haley Schaffner.

I am an Arkansas farmer, and I am fighting to put Arkansas first.

Tom Cotton has been in Washington for 14 years, and life in Arkansas has only gotten worse.

He got the war he wanted and we are paying the price at the pump.

He voted to take away our health care.

And now 60% of Arkansas's rural hospitals are at risk of closing.

He voted against our largest industry, against the farm bill twice.

And now 25% of Arkansas farms have gone out of business.

And where is Tom cotton?

He's not here because he either thinks he's too good or he's too scared.

And neither one of those works for Arkansas.

I'm here because last year I closed my family's 150 year old farm, and I decided I wouldn't surrender.

I decided that if I can't farm, I'm going to fight for Arkansas.

I'm going to fight for you.

Thank you, Mr.

Watling.

One minute.

So maternal health care is critical in Arkansas as it is everywhere.

And maternal health care is basic health care.

And we need to have coverage.

The issue with rural Arkansas is that we don't have all of the right clinics and hospitals in the right area.

Some towns are shrinking.

The population has moved around.

So what I would advocate for is we look at the whole population of Arkansas, where the where the population centers are, where the roads are, and we come up with some design principles.

Like, everyone has to be within 30 minutes of emergency services or delivery services.

And then we work to say based on that, where are the clinics and where do the hospitals need to be?

And then we have a public private partnership to make sure that we have the clinics in the right areas so that folks can drive and get the service they need in time.

Miss Schaffner, you have another 30s.

Our health care system is truly in crisis.

As I said, 60% of Arkansas is rural.

Hospitals are at risk of closing.

And in most counties in Arkansas, families cannot afford and cannot have a child safely.

Part of that is because our health care system is simply built for corporations instead of people.

Corporations that make money when people are sicker.

I want to refocus our health care infrastructure by making investments in rural communities, to keep our hospitals open and specialist available for our young families.

Mr.

Watson 30s.

The one other thing I would add is that Arkansas is the only state without 12 months of postpartum coverage for Medicaid, and that is unacceptable and needs to change.

Next question from George Jarrett and goes first to Mr.

Wyman.

There is obviously no elephant in this room today.

Tom cotton opted to not participate in this debate.

How do you feel about that?

And what do you think this message sends to Arkansas voters?

Sure.

I think Tom cotton is a coward and a hypocrite.

12 years ago, he badgered Senator Pryor about not showing up to debate him.

Well, where is Senator Tom cotton today?

And by the way, apparently he's willing to debate commissioner, but he's not willing to debate me.

Just like he didn't debate the libertarian candidate six years ago.

And just like Leslie Rutledge is not debating the libertarian candidate for lieutenant governor this year.

And the reason for that is that Republicans don't want to stand on the stage with a libertarian, because we have the true conservative credentials where they matter most.

I've driven to all 75 counties in this state, and when hard working Arkansans don't show up to do their job like it's Tom cotton job to be here in debate, they get fired.

And that's the message I would have for Tom cotton.

The consensus consensus is that I've heard from Arkansans is that they want you fired.

Miss Schaffner, one minute.

I've been on the campaign trail for 450 days now, over a year and a half.

And the story that I hear across Arkansas is this we are working hard, harder than ever, and we're not making it.

And it's not because we have failed.

It is because the system is rigged against us, rigged by and in favor of politicians like Tom cotton, his largest donors, and his own political ambitions.

It is true.

Tom Cotton promised us the world 12 years ago, and then he went to DC and he pulled the ladder up behind him.

He doesn't live here.

He doesn't come home.

If you call his office, you are not going to speak to anyone.

And that is not what Arkansans deserve.

Arkansas deserves a senator who knows what it's like to live here right now.

And I do more than that, I love Arkansas.

We're the most beautiful state in the country.

We're home to some of the most powerful companies on this planet.

I believe that we can and should be a healthy and prosperous state again.

And if you choose me as your next U.S.

senator, I will fight for that every single day.

Mr.

Warren, you have another 30s.

Well, just like I said, I think it's very telling that he's not here.

You know, it's his responsibility to serve his constituents, be available to his constituents, show up and have town halls in Arkansas, which he hasn't done for ages.

I hardly ever see him on the campaign trail.

And so, again, I just think he's his behavior by not being here is disqualifying.

And another 30 for Mayor Schaffner.

One of the things I'd like to do as your next U.S.

senator is have the best constituent services program in the country.

Unlike Tom cotton, I want to build a office in every region of the state, and I want that office staffed with folks from that region, not just to provide the constituent services for seniors having issues with Social Security and veterans with disability, but to provide the resources from Washington, D.C., and bring those resources home to benefit communities all across our state.

Steve Brunner, now with a question first for Mrs.

Schaffner.

The national debt reached $48 trillion on August 18th, and since then it has added another 300 billion.

Meanwhile, the Social Security Trust Fund is expected to be insolvent in 2032, which will be within the term of the winner of this race.

What difficult decisions need to be made to bring both the federal budget and the Social Security Trust Fund closer to balance?

Unfortunately, the government is spending money at an unprecedented rate.

The national debt when Tom cotton took office was $16 trillion.

It is now over $40 trillion.

The government should tighten its belt and balance its budget the same way Arkansas families have to at their kitchen table.

And that means spending what we have smarter.

Do not tell seniors to expect a cut in Social Security when we are spending billions of dollars on a war that no one wanted.

Do not expect our farmers to accept that no help is coming for our largest industry.

When we give a $20 billion line of credit to Argentina.

The second thing is, is if you're going to spend money, you better be making money.

And that means everyone has to pay their fair share.

Don't ask Arkansas families to suffer in silence.

While Amazon gets a $17.5 billion tax break last year while posting record profits.

We need fairness in this country and that is what I'll fight for every single day.

Mr.

Watling, do you have one minute?

The first thing that we need is a balanced budget amendment.

The federal government needs to live within its means, just like Arkansas families do.

And just like our state government does.

Tom.

Tom cotton likes to take a lot of credit for the big, beautiful bill and the tax cuts.

But you don't get to take credit for tax cuts unless you balance the budget.

Now, the reason we have such a deficit is because of the biggest federal programs Social security, health care, defense.

And now the interest on the debt, which is almost tripled in the last five years.

And so those are the programs that I'm going to be focused on.

Social security in the short term, probably will actually become more expensive because we do need to keep our promises to seniors.

But over the long term, I have a plan to expand children's investment accounts to bring down the cost of Social Security.

Health care.

Also, we should be able to cut the cost of that in half based on what other developed countries are spending on their health care programs.

Michelle, after you have another 30s.

I have a little boy who's eight years old, and I do not want him to inherit $40 trillion in national debt.

So let's make a plan to tackle it over the next 30 years.

In the same way an Arkansas family would budget to buy a house.

The other thing I'd like to point out is the last time we had a balanced budget in this country, it was an Arkansan in the white House working with a Republican speaker of the House.

I want to go to D.C.

and work with whoever wants to rein in government spending and keep more money in Arkansans pockets in our cities, in our counties and our communities.

Back to you, Mr.

Whiteland, for another 30s.

So not only do we have a $40 trillion debt, but now the interest on the credit card is $1.4 trillion a year.

That's more than the defense budget.

And in a couple of years, it'll be more than Medicare and Medicaid.

And this is just one example of where the Democrats and the Republicans are somehow working together to generate terrible outcomes.

And so we need to balance the budget.

We need to get these big programs under control, and we need to not heap this debt onto our children and grandchildren.

Thank you sir.

Usually now with a question, first of all, Mr.

Wall.

Mr.

wall, then how do you address threats from foreign adversaries while protecting Arkansas and American businesses, infrastructure, health and personal data?

So we're lucky to not have direct threats on the homeland.

We do have threats to our allies around the world.

And the way that we need to support our allies depends on the particular conflict.

So, for example, with the conflict in Ukraine, we do have some obligations to help them defend themselves based on the promises they made when they did denuclearize after the Soviet Union was dismantled.

Now, should we bankrupt ourselves defending them?

No, but we should help them with intelligence.

And they've got some sophisticated drone technology that they could potentially trade for weapons with us.

Now, with regard to the Iran war.

That war has been a debacle.

And a lot of that is Tom cotton has blame to bear there for his for his, trying to scuttle the JCPoA.

So it really depends on the conflict in terms of how we should defend ourselves and defend our allies.

Holly Schaffner one minute.

I don't believe in endless wars, and I don't believe in blank checks when it comes to the war in Iran.

I will vote to end it because of the loss of life and because it has skyrocketed gas and diesel prices.

Let's be clear.

Tom cotton has wanted to go to war with Iran for the last 14 years, and he finally got the war that he wanted.

In 2019, he said on camera that we could win a war with Iran in two strikes.

It has now been eight months and what have we gotten?

America and Arkansas is not safe.

When our families cannot afford fuel, when our farmers cannot produce food.

I want to be your next U.S.

senator, because I have the sense enough to know how to put Arkansas first and not support any action or policy that is going to hurt you and your ability to support your family.

Mr.

Whiteland 30s.

With regard to Iran, Congress needs to exercise its article one, section eight obligation to either approve the war or end it.

And I would say that we should end it.

We need to strike a deal with Iran, where they open the strait and in exchange for us stopping the bombing and removing the blockade.

And then we need to keep the sanctions on and try to negotiate back to a JCPoA type deal where we constrain their nuclear enrichment.

Mr.. After you have another 30, it seems to us that Tom cotton is willing to spend any amount of time and resources outside the borders of the United States and Arkansas.

I believe in keeping more money in the pockets of Arkansas families, seniors, small businesses, and farmers.

I believe in keeping that money at home, making the investments we need in our rural hospitals, our roads, our water systems, and our electrical grids.

The foundations we need for a reliable economy.

Mr.

Jarrett has our next question.

That goes first to Mr.

Thomas Schaffner.

We haven't had a farm bill passed in this country since 2018.

I saw an estimate that just soybean farmers in, in this recent bad economy have lost over $54 billion.

I talked to a rice agronomist recently who said that if something doesn't change in the rice industry in Arkansas, we could have a paradigm shift where we won't be growing nearly as much rice in this state.

And we are the leading rice growing state in this country.

So I guess the question is, will you guys commit to getting a farm bill passed?

I will absolutely pass a farm bill.

And you're right.

It's devastating.

Arkansas leads the nation in farm bankruptcies and farmer suicides.

I don't just want to pass a new farm bill.

I want to pass a better farm bill, a food bill, one that helps our farmers survive by producing food that people eat and selling that food back into the community in which it is grown, so that we can provide fresh, healthy, affordable, Arkansas grown food on the plates of our families and on the trays of our kids and our public school cafeterias.

I believe that our Arkansas farmers can feed not just our state, but our entire country, and export that out into the entire world.

I want to be the kind of senator that gets away from bailouts and into markets, who knocks down the door of any country or company that wants to buy an Arkansas made, Arkansas grown product, the Mr.

Waddle, and one another?

So we do certainly need to pass a new farm bill.

But obviously the farm bill is not the only thing hurting farmers.

The tariffs have closed export markets to us and that's devastated our farmers.

And then we had to have $210 billion bailouts for our farmers.

Now in the long term, I would say we probably need to get away from subsidizing our crops.

We are trapping our farmers into these subsidized commodity crops, which is not very profitable for them.

There's a reason that New Zealand is has one of the most profitable agriculture sectors among the first world countries.

And that's because back in the 80s, they deregulated and they stopped subsidizing their farmers.

And so now they're selling and exporting more high touch, but more profitable crops like meat and dairy and wool and fruit and vegetables and wine and processed goods.

That's the direction that we need to go.

So our farmers can have more lucrative markets.

30s.

Miss Schaffner.

Let's be clear.

Tom Cotton voted against the farm bill because he doesn't care whether or not our small Arkansas family farms survive.

And he doesn't care whether or not we feed people in the hungriest state in the country.

So let's change the way we grow food and feed people.

Let's make sure our farmers can grow high value food crops that we can sell back into the community in which it is grown, which makes it cheaper.

Right now we bring food in from an average of 1500 miles with diesel costs over $6 a gallon.

That is passed on to Arkansas families.

You have 30, Mr.

Wadley.

The other one thing I would say in these farming communities, and I've been to all 75 counties and I've visited with a lot of folks and I've seen what's going on and besides.

And in these small communities, it would be helpful to have more manufacturing.

And so we need to not just grow the crops.

We also need to process the food here.

So I will spend a lot of my time as a center, bringing industry into these communities so that we can have food processing as well as food harvesting.

We go to Mr.

Bronner now with a question first for Mr.

Waller.

Artificial intelligence holds great promise in research in medicine, but some fear it could lead to significant job losses.

And there are some coming from within the AI industry for fear it could threaten humankind.

What should Congress do to ensure we enjoy the benefits of the technology while reducing its risks?

So I think you're right.

AI is a new technology, and it's scary, like all new technologies.

And it certainly will create a lot of benefits, particularly in the medical field and other fields.

And it will also help young people and entrepreneurs start their businesses.

But there are some threats, and I do think that there is some oversight that's needed.

I wouldn't have heavy, heavy handed regulation just yet, but I do think we need some types of guardrails, particularly around a genetic AI, which is like giving the car keys to a bot to go out and do things autonomously.

The other thing I would say is that we need some type of third party in these AI companies reviewing their models, and maybe that doesn't need to be a government agency, but it could be something like an independent auditor that public companies have to use to review their books.

One minute Michelle.

The thing I hear across Arkansas over the last year and a half, I get a question about AI.

Every time I show up in a community, it is always about data centers.

And our citizens have questions about data centers being built in their own backyard, questions they don't feel are being answered.

How many jobs will it bring in?

How will it affect our water usage?

How will it increase my rates for utilities?

They don't feel like these questions are being answered by sometimes local leaders, but also by folks like Tom cotton who are passing things like the Data Act to allow data centers to skirt federal regulations to produce their own energy.

Again, this should be something that Arkansans citizens should have input in.

And I want to be the kind of senator who can be invited into the room with these companies, local leaders and citizens to work out a deal so that our communities can be involved in the industries that move in to their own backyards.

Mr.

Watson 30.

So with regard to local data centers, absolutely.

The rule here is local control.

Some communities might want a data center for the few jobs that it offers and the construction jobs that it offers when it's being built.

But a lot of a lot of communities will not want a data center.

And we can also pass legislation to make sure that they don't overburden ratepayers for the utility demand that they have, and so that they don't overburden municipal water supplies back to MacArthur.

In regards to I, I think that a lot of folks are concerned not just with the kind of utility usage.

They're also concerned about the noise.

And again, this gets back to transparency and having companies who are coming into our communities, not just data centers, but other industries as well, who are going to work in good faith with our communities, communicate with them.

I want to be a part of that conversation.

As your next U.S.

senator usually has.

The next question first Commissioner Miss Schaffner, what is one major policy issue on which you disagree with members of your own party?

How would you approach it with the Senate?

Recently, the farm bill did not get out of committee because the Democrats voted against it, and I have already said that I would have voted with the Republicans to get that farm bill out of committee, because that would have been the right thing to do for Arkansas.

And let me be clear, if I am your next U.S.

senator, the only letters next to my name that will mean anything to me are the A and the R. I want to make sure to answer this one question.

With every vote that I make, with every conversation that I have.

Does this make life better, safer, and more affordable for the people of Arkansas?

And if it doesn't, I will oppose it, no matter which party proposes it.

Mr.

Watson, one minute.

So I am running as a libertarian, and I do identify with the libertarian ideals of smaller government and more personal freedom.

But I am not a libertarian ideologue, and there are places where I feel like the government does have a role to play, like with health care, for example.

Now, the thing is about being a third party candidate.

When I get to the Senate, that will give me more power than somebody who's in the Democratic or Republican Party.

And that's because I will operate as an independent.

And most of the votes are party line.

And so an independent will have the most power in the Senate to be the tie breaker.

And both parties will come to me, which will give me a lot of leverage to get the things that Arkansas needs.

Mission authority.

And let's be clear.

Tom cotton votes with his own party nearly 100% of the time, which means he is not weighing every single decision with the people of Arkansas in mind.

He has set his priorities for his candidacy, and obviously by not showing up today on this debate stage and answering for the record, he doesn't have he is showing us what's most important to him.

And it is not us.

It is not you.

It is not the people of Arkansas.

Again, to Mr.

Waddle in 30s.

The problem we have in Washington, D.C.

is the gridlock between the two parties.

And again, the party line voting where the votes are basically cast before the discussion even starts.

And that's why I'm running as a third party candidate, because then my loyalty is only to Arkansans and not to a political party.

Thank you sir.

Before we continuing, before we continue the questioning, a reminder, you, want to let you know.

We want to let you know that, the candidates will have the opportunity to participate in individual press conferences directly following this broadcast.

And you can scan the QR code, which is up on your screen now with your mobile device, to watch that, press conference.

So get those mobiles ready.

You will see that QR code periodically throughout the balance of our debate.

Our next question comes from George Gerard.

And it goes first to Mr.

Watson.

Mr.

Watson, inflation is out of control.

Trade wars, tariffs and the war in Iran have caused prices to absolutely skyrocket for many people in this country.

In fact, everyone in this country.

What will you do if elected specifically to get inflation under control?

And will you serve as a check on the executive branch at the federal level?

Great question.

So the two main drivers of inflation right now are the tariffs and the war.

So the tariffs are obviously driving up prices for us.

And blanket tariffs are not the way to go.

Targeted tariffs are fine.

And then with the war obviously that's spiking fuel fuel prices and fertilizer prices.

And it's rippling into many other things.

But a couple of other things that neither of my candidates are talking about is first, the national debt.

When the when the government spends money that it doesn't have, that's inflationary.

The other thing that they're not talking about is the Federal Reserve.

So most people don't know that since 2020, the money supply has increased by 50%.

That means that your savings and your paycheck has been cut by a third.

So if you're making $60,000, effectively, that's $40,000.

If you saved up $90,000 for retirement.

That's effectively $60,000.

We need to reform the fed so they don't have such loose monetary policies.

Every time there's an economic blip after one minute, blanket tariffs don't work.

They cost Arkansas families and seniors and young people and small businesses and farmers more money.

They are a tax on the American people.

Now, tariffs in and of themselves are not necessarily bad.

The Ford F-150 is the most popular truck in America because of a tariff called the chicken tax from the 1960s.

But blanket tariffs, especially those that impact not just our adversaries but our closest neighbors like Canada.

Those are going to cause chaos in the market.

And for families budgeting at the kitchen table for farmers and small businesses, budgeting and QuickBooks for spreadsheets.

You can't plan for the future.

Tom Cotton supports the chaos.

I wish you were standing here on the stage today with us so that he could, in fact, answer for why he supports this chaos.

I don't I'm going to fight for stability and an economy that Arkansans can rely on.

Mr.

Warren, you have 30.

The other thing I would say that's really costing Arkansans right now are interest rates.

So back to the earlier question about the debt and the interest on the debt.

The interest on the debt is so high that our Treasury bill rates are very high.

And that's driving up.

That's driving up interest rates because the fed has to raise interest rates when inflation is out of control.

And that is a double whammy.

So now we have mortgage rates above 7.5%.

We need to get inflation under control so that we can bring those interest rates down.

We go back to finish off here for another 30.

Tom Cotton doesn't have the backbone to stand on this stage today and answer for why he supports a chaotic trade war.

He doesn't have a backbone.

I want to be your next U.S.

senator so that I can go to Congress and be part of a Congress with a backbone again.

Only Congress can declare war.

Only Congress holds the power of the purse.

Only Congress can set tariffs.

We talk about a balance of power.

I want to be a part of a Congress that is going to support the people that they represent.

And that, for me, would be Arkansas first every single time.

Steve Brunner has a question, and it goes first to me.

Schaffner.

Illegal immigration has been a huge issue in American politics and in this campaign.

Which policies do you support around border security and a path to citizenship?

I support securing the border.

I support deporting violent criminals, and I support reforming and fixing what is a broken, backlogged, and bureaucratic legal immigration system.

Let's be clear.

We have needed reforms in our legal immigration system for decades.

Tom Cotton has been in Washington for 14 years and has done nothing to fix it.

He just wants to go on cable news and complain about it for political points.

He wants to chop up things that I say, mischaracterize them, and force the people of Arkansas to watch them over and over again with millions of dollars put into attack ads.

I want to fix the problem.

Secure the border.

Deport violent criminals.

Fix our legal immigration system by bringing the right stakeholders to the table.

That's immigrant workers, their families, their communities, and advocates.

That is, employers who want workers, who want to follow the law.

Industry leaders.

I want to fix our legal immigration system so that it makes sense and works for the people of Arkansas.

Jeff Waterland one minute.

So immigration is another place where the Democratic Party and the Republican Party are somehow working together to produce terrible outcomes.

So we certainly need to secure our border, and we certainly need to deport criminals.

But several things about immigration can be true.

First of all, most immigrants, whether legal or illegal, are fairly impressive, especially the ones that walk thousands of miles, get beaten and robbed, and come to a foreign country to try to make a better life for themselves.

But it's also true that it's not okay to skip the line.

Undocumented workers put downward pressure on employment and wages for American workers, and that's not okay.

And then lastly, it is possible to deport undocumented workers without chaos and violence.

It's important to remember that in the, that President Obama deported more people in his two terms than Trump did in his first term.

So it is possible to deport people without cruelty and chaos.

Back to mish after 30s.

You know, Arkansas is the hungriest state.

The second sickest and the fourth poorest.

We rank nearly dead last in maternal mortality, child well-being, and education.

I have a problem with the over $200 billion that has now been funded by Tom cotton to Ice, making it the largest law enforcement agency in the country.

And if it were just deporting violent criminals and securing the border, perhaps we would not have cause for concern.

But two American citizens are dead and thousands more have been terrorized.

We need a fix to our legal immigration system, and I want to work on that.

Mr.

Whiteland 30s.

So just to expand on the idea of the downward pressure on wages.

So let's say I run a painting company with American citizens and someone else is running a painting company with undocumented workers.

Well, that other company is going to be able to undercut me.

That's not okay.

That's not fair to me.

And it's certainly not fair to my workers.

And so I'm focused on the working class.

We need to have policies so that Americans can do work and get paid a fair wage.

Mr.

Walton gets the next question first, misleading Steve.

Mr.

Walton, what national policies would you enact to attract new businesses and jobs to Arkansas?

So my approach to attract new jobs to Arkansas would be to work with state and local officials and go county by county and town by town, and figure out what type of industry can they support based on the resources that they have and the workforce that they have.

And then we could come up with a scorecard to understand what types of industries each community could support.

And then I would work with partners domestically and internationally to try to attract the right companies to each town based on the resources and and the skill and the workforce that they have to bring jobs to Arkansas.

Because economic development is critical to these towns in Arkansas that are struggling.

And economic development solves so many other problems.

It helps with education and health care and nutrition and crime.

And so that is going to be my number one focus is economic development for Arkansas.

Miss Schaffner one minute.

Agriculture is our largest industry.

1 in 6 jobs is related to agriculture.

But our top agricultural product in Arkansas from a row crop farmers is soybeans.

People do not eat soybeans.

Animals do.

We have enough land and water and farmers.

We could produce food that people eat.

We could sell that food back into the community in which it is grown, and it will be cheaper and healthier and fresher.

It will be Arkansas grown.

The great thing about growing food crops is the amount of companies and small businesses that are needed to support that industry.

Processing, packaging, flash freezing, pulverizing, specialty storage, specialty equipment and transportation.

These are small businesses that can be built on farm or near farm in communities that have very little else.

These are jobs that will build population.

It will build political power and tax base.

This is a vision that we could have for Arkansas, a vision we could realize if you put me in the United States Senate, a farmer in the United States Senate, Mr.. Warren, 33 seconds.

More on economic development.

We also need to attract workers to the businesses we have.

We also need to foster small business development.

We also need to attract retirees and tourism to and college students.

These are things that also can bring money into our Arkansas communities.

And when folks around the country see Tom cotton on cable TV going on some culture war rant, it gives them the wrong impression of Arkansas.

Arkansas is a beautiful state with beautiful people.

Miss Schaffner, 31 of the things I want to do out of my best constituent services program in the country is provide technical assistance for our cities, our counties and our communities to apply for federal dollars.

There are lots of federal funds out there that exist today that are hard to find, apply for, execute, and report on.

I want my office to be a technical resource for our communities so we can leverage those federal dollars to help update roads and infrastructure, the kind of foundation that we need to bring in new industry support, small businesses, put money into the pockets of our families and small businesses and farmers.

Jared, first Commissioner, so the war in Iran has raged for almost eight months now.

The Iranians have figured out if they should shut down the Strait of Hormuz, that they can disrupt the fuel supply for the rest of the world.

They've also, through their house, the allies have disrupted trade through the Red sea.

They've also blown up a pipeline in Saudi Arabia with a bunch of cheap drones.

And they blow up a lot of our ships with a bunch of cheap drones.

If you are elected, what will be the first step you will take to end the war with Iran?

The first step would be to become a part of a Congress with a backbone again, and declare that only Congress can declare war.

This, again is an issue as to how our resources are being spent.

We talk about having a government that tightens its belt and balances its budget.

It's about priorities.

It's about how we spend smarter in this country.

Our families are struggling.

And as I travel around the state and listen to them, what they're asking me about the things that keep them up at night is I cannot afford gas to get to work every day.

I cannot afford my groceries.

I cannot afford back to school supplies and clothes for my kids.

We have to refocus our priorities in this country and bring them back home, to make sure that we are keeping money into the pockets of our families, our farmers, our small businesses, and investing those funds back into the community.

We have to rein in this unprecedented spending on outside of our country.

Mr.

Watling.

So, as I mentioned earlier, I would work with other senators to exercise the article one section eight War Powers authority to end this war.

And as I mentioned, we should strike a deal with them to open the strait in exchange for withdrawing the blockade and stopping the bombing.

But the larger issue here is we need to stop getting into these foreign wars of aggression.

Since World War two, we really haven't won any wars except for desert or storm.

And that's because Desert Storm was defined by pushing the bad guys back over the line.

When we invade a foreign country, we can't win that war because we're in this country.

We're in their country.

So, for example, with Iraq and Afghanistan, we spent $3 trillion on each of those wars.

And for what?

Those folks are still running their countries.

Commissioner three again, I think this comes back to how we spend our dollars in this country and how we refocus our efforts back on our communities.

As I travel around the state, people don't ask me the details of the war in Iran.

They want to know why were there.

And Tom cotton can't give us a good answer.

He says he wants to finish the job, but what job exactly are we supposed to be finishing?

The American people, the people of Arkansas.

We deserve answers.

And we're not getting them from Tom cotton.

He should be here today to answer those questions.

30s Mr.

Wardlow, specifically with with regard to the war in Iran, it is important to understand that Tom cotton is more responsible for this war than anyone.

He tried to scuttle the JCPoA while it was being negotiated, and then he cheered the fact that it was torn up and replaced with nothing during the first Trump administration.

And then, of course, Iran began enriching their uranium again, which had previously been constrained.

And I'm fine with the Operation Midnite Hammer to bomb their nuclear facilities.

But this larger war has completely backfired.

And that is Tom cotton fault.

Steve Bronner has our next question, and it goes first to Mr.

Wardle.

The US Senate recently voted to pass the Protect College Sports Act, but it's unlikely that the House will pass its own version, this Congress.

And so the process will start again next year.

What do you think should be done to protect college sports?

So I am not in agreement with the Protect College Sports Act.

And here's why.

We've got hardscrabble kids all over Arkansas who've been working their entire lives to become better football, basketball players, what have you.

And then finally, they get a great scholarship.

Nia and I deal to play.

And they should be able to maximize their earning potential while they're in college.

If they want to transfer four times during their eligibility.

That's their business.

They should be able to maximize their revenue.

It's not fair to give universities and media companies some type of antitrust exception so that, you know, these kids that are working their hearts out playing sports can't maximize their revenue.

Michel, for one minute.

I have an eight year old boy who plays soccer.

And when he plays, my primary concerns are.

Is he having fun?

Is he learning teamwork?

Is he taking pride in representing his team?

Protecting college sports is important.

Making sure that our kids have those good experiences and get a good education while they're in school is important, and I'm glad Congress is acting on that.

While I may not agree with the specifics of the bill, but I got a text from a former friend of mine announcements that the Senate had passed the Protect College Sports Act, and his question to me was, why can they pass this and not a farm bill?

And it gets back to priorities.

It gets back to having a senator who understands what life is like in Arkansas.

Right now.

Who's going to take that experience and understanding to Washington and prioritize the things that our families, farmers, and small businesses wake up thinking about?

Every single day?

Mr.

Watson 30s.

So this also gives me an opportunity just to talk about antitrust in general.

So a lot of libertarians are for laissez faire, but I am not.

I think that we need to stand up to industry consolidation because monopolies and oligopolies are costing Arkansas farmers.

We need to break up some of these industries so that there's more competition.

Schaffner another 30.

I think the people of Arkansas would also like to hear from Tom cotton on what he thinks of this bill, but also what he thinks about the fact that the farm bill has not been passed.

We would like to know what he thinks.

As the chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, why the war in Iran has not ended, why it is we spent billions in Venezuela bombing speedboats off the coast of South America.

Why it is we gave a $20 billion bailout to Argentina for them to undercut our soybean farmers.

Why can't Tom cotton stand on this stage and defend his record?

The people of Arkansas deserve it.

Question.

Miss Lee for Miss Schaffner.

Miss Schaffner, what role should energy, nuclear, solar, wind and natural gas play in our country?

Long term energy strategy?

I think this is a great question because in Arkansas we are very blessed and always have been with a diverse energy mix hydropower, nuclear, solar, wind, natural gas and coal.

I think we should continue that mix in a commonsense way.

We can combine all these different energies to make Arkansas more energy independent, but more specifically make us more efficient and update our electrical grids so that we can ensure that our families are not paying more than their fair share on their utility bills.

Because, let's be honest, Arkansas families are now paying 15% more on their utility bills, made so much worse by the fact that we just had an incredibly hot summer.

Tom Cotton has not talked about lowering energy costs in a real way.

Any bills that he has sponsored have been sponsored at the very last minute, 30 days before the election, with Congress not in session.

I want to prioritize energy and low rates on day one.

Mr.

Watson, one minute.

So we certainly do need to expand our energy supply to compete with countries like China.

China is adding to their energy supply the equivalent of what Germany's energy supply is every year.

So we need to increase our energy supply to be competitive here in Arkansas and around the country.

And I believe in an all of the above approach, gas, nuclear, wind and solar and green energy will become a more important part of the mix over time.

The government does not need to put its finger on the scale for that.

Those sources of energy have a zero marginal cost, which makes them incredibly competitive.

After 30, when I was still running the farm and when I was still running the farm, we considered installing a solar array on one of our warehouses to cut back on about 70% of the energy that we used on the farm, and it had about a seven year return on investment, and it made a lot of sense for us.

But the barrier to entry is cost.

And with tariffs now, our solar panels that are not manufactured in the United States are much more expensive, meaning that your everyday family is not going to be able to afford to become more energy independent.

And another story from Mr.

Waldman.

So I was recently out in Mississippi County, and I drove by all five steel mills out there and that is a great example of an industry that's working well in Arkansas and generating its own power.

Some of those steel mills are using solar for 60 to 80% of their own power developed there on site to power those induction furnaces.

And the steel that they're using is recycled, is recycled.

So it's a great boon for the economy.

And it's an also an interesting story about sustainability.

Again, George Jarrett, for Mr.

Waller, a lot of people have seen on TV Ice agents, rounding up immigrants, illegal immigrants, and in some cases, American citizens.

If you were elected, what would you do to stop this, law enforcement agency from shooting people in the streets where they become the judge, jury, and executioner all in the same moment?

Yeah, absolutely.

So Ice does not need to perform its duties as if it's political theater.

They should be like every other law enforcement officer where they have a badge and they're not wearing a mask, and they're wearing, they're wearing a body camera.

As I mentioned earlier, the Obama administration deported more people.

And it's it's two terms than the Trump administration did in its first term.

So there's no need for Ice to operate with chaos and cruelty.

Miss, after.

In northwest Arkansas, I have met several community members.

One naturalized citizen of Hispanic descent who now carries his passport with him because he's worried about being stopped.

The way that Ice is operating is not making us safer.

Folks in Northwest Arkansas and other parts of the state, they're afraid to call 911, even if they're legal residents.

Women who are in a situation of domestic violence or their children are in danger, are afraid of interacting with law enforcement and law enforcement agents.

Local law enforcement agents in those regions are telling me that that is not helping them, that they are trying to combat this sense of mistrust in law enforcement.

I want to rein in the violence that is characterizing our Immigration and Customs Enforcement right now, refocus law enforcement on safety, making sure that our law enforcement agencies have the resources they need to respond to the community in a way that makes everyone feel safer.

Mr.

Waterland has another 30.

I have no rebuttal on this one.

Mayor Schaffner, you have another 30, if you wish.

No rebuttal on this one.

Okay.

Our next question is from Mr.

Bronner, and it goes first to Miss Schaffner.

What do you think about the state of Americans trust in the election process?

If there's a decline in that trust, what is causing it and what needs to be done to strengthen that level of trust?

Of course, we want safe elections, and we want Americans and Arkansans to feel like we have safe elections.

I was very glad to hear from our own Arkansas Secretary of State, Cole Jester, that Arkansas has one of the safest election systems in the country.

We certainly have one of the strictest voter ID laws.

The Constitution gives the power to control elections to the states, and I don't see any need for the federal government to stick its nose in our business and try to fix something that isn't broken.

And I would hope that Arkansans feel secure as they go to the polls.

This early voting starting October the 19th, election day, November the 3rd.

Mr.

Watson, one minute.

And so Arkansas has been rated as having some of the most secure elections in the country.

And so I think right here we are doing fine.

There are some elements of the Save act that I do support.

I think it is fine to expect voters to show an ID.

I think it is fine for folks to have to prove that they are a citizen before they're allowed to vote.

We all had to do that when we were getting our real IDs.

And it is okay to screen voter databases to make sure that folks are citizens.

But I've worked a lot with data in my career, and that is a messy process, so there needs to be time to roll that out to make sure that we're not excluding more legal voters than we are illegal voters.

So with the right time, we can roll out, enhanced security for elections.

But definitely the control of elections needs to be left with the states as it is now.

Commissioner 30, I do want to take a moment to address some of the concerns that I've heard across the state about the safety of going to the polls specifically.

And I want to tell the people of Arkansas that if you are at any point concerned about your safety, the best thing to do is early vote.

Oftentimes, early voting locations are in neutral spots.

You can go at several hours of the day when there is no line.

We encourage that you get out there in early vote, as, as much as as our communities can.

And another 30, Mr.

Watson.

So another thing with regard to elections, I am okay with Mail-In voting.

Arkansas is a rural state, and we have a lot of folks that live far from the polls, and we want to make it easy for those folks, particularly elderly folks, disabled folks, people with transportation issues.

We want to make sure that they can vote.

The other thing I would say is that long term election day just needs to be a federal holiday.

We should celebrate voting, and we should make it as easy as possible to everybody, for everybody, the most people as possible to vote.

Thank you sir, and again to miss Lee.

Mr.

Watson, affordable housing and infrastructure.

Let's talk about that.

What policies would you support to help Arkansas with affordable housing and how do we support a growing Arkansas population?

Sure.

So affordable housing around the country is certainly is an issue.

But one of the nice things about Arkansas is that we actually have fairly affordable housing relative to a lot of the rest of the country.

I'm from Northwest Arkansas, and certainly the housing prices have gone up there.

But as I've been traveling around the state, you know, I would meet retirees and Prescott or Paris who had moved to Arkansas because of the lower cost of living, and also even in northwest Arkansas.

Certainly, if you want to live in downtown Bentonville, the housing prices have skyrocketed.

But if you want to move 20 minutes away to P Ridge or Gentry, you can get a $250,000 house that's less than ten years old with three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

So there is affordable housing out there.

But to help with affordable housing, this is basically just a story of inflation, as I was talking about earlier.

We need to stop the deficit spending.

We need to rein in the fed, and we need to bring down interest rates.

And that will help the cost of housing.

Miss, one minute.

Well, if housing is fairly affordable in Arkansas, I have heard many stories of Arkansans who would disagree with that.

And many of those are in Northwest Arkansas.

But the affordable housing issue isn't exclusive to our population areas that are growing.

I have also seen it in places like the Delta where I'm from.

The answer to more affordable housing is more affordable housing.

And right now, the reason that we can't build more affordable housing is twofold.

Number one, predatory private equity firms and corporations are buying up homes to flip them and sell them for a profit at prices that our Arkansas families, especially young people, can't afford.

We need to rein in these corporations so that they aren't rigging the rules, and so that our Arkansas families can afford to buy their first home.

The second is ending.

The terror for the trade war is jacking up costs of housing materials.

And so our contractors are having trouble building affordable housing in the first place.

I want to go to Washington and fight for Arkansans every single day, to make sure we can build the affordable housing we need for our growing population.

Thank you, Mr.

Waddle.

And for 30.

Another thing that's driving the affordability crisis for housing is not just on the supply side, but on the demand side.

So with the inflation since Covid, housing prices have basically doubled.

Along with that, interest rates are much higher.

And so now the mortgage on a house is basically four times what it used to be.

And so folks are locked into their old house with their old mortgage and they're not moving.

And that's freezing up the housing market.

And so when we address some of those issues at the federal level, that will loosen that up after another 30s.

Understanding that while we need to address affordable housing, we also have to address gas and diesel prices.

I met a server in Fayetteville who cannot afford to live in Fayetteville, and so she drives in an hour from Huntsville.

And at this point she's just shoving her paycheck into her gas tank.

It isn't simply about how we create more affordable housing.

It's also about how do we make life more affordable for Arkansas families right now.

I want to go to Washington and fight for that.

Okay, that concludes the question and answer portion of our program.

And we turn now to closing statements and to remind you the order of closing statements was determined prior to the broadcast by the toss of a coin.

So we now go for the first close to Mr.

Watson.

250 years ago, America stood on a mountaintop.

Well, mountains come in ranges and there's always a higher peak.

But right now we are not on any peak.

We are in a deep, deep valley economically, fiscally, civically and civilly.

And if we want to get out of that valley, step one is to stop riding the elephants and donkeys that led us into this valley in the first place.

Now I'm looking up at those peaks and I want to go to the highest one, but to reach the highest peak.

That journey will be the longest and the hardest.

And we can't get there unless we go together.

Now I will blazed the trail, but you will have to do the hiking yourself.

And if you twist your ankle, the strongest among us will help you.

And when you recover, you will be able to help somewhere someone else.

And the higher we climb, the stronger we'll get.

So if you'd like to reach a new peak in American greatness, I welcome you to join me on this journey.

Thank you.

I love you all.

And God bless, Miss Schaffner.

One minute to close.

Thank you so much to Arkansas TV and everyone tuning in.

If I can't do the thing that I wanted to do, if I can't farm, I'm going to fight on behalf of the people of Arkansas.

I'm going to fight so that no one in Arkansas is just one medical emergency away from bankruptcy.

I'm going to fight to fully fund Social Security and Medicare so our seniors can retire in comfort and age and dignity.

I'm going to fight so our veterans can get the benefits they sacrificed so much to earn.

I'm going to fight for our school aged kids so that everyone, no matter where you're from or what you look like, you have access to a high quality public education.

I'm going to fight to keep our tax dollars at home.

I am going to fight for a sustainable food system that helps our farmers survive but puts fresh, healthy, affordable, Arkansas grown food on the plates of our families and on the trays of our kids in our public school cafeterias.

And I'm going to do all this because I believe in Arkansas.

I believe we can and should be a healthy and prosperous state again.

That is why I'm asking you to choose me as your next U.S.

Senator.

And with that, our time has expired again, our thanks to our candidates and of course, to our panelists.

A reminder you can watch this and all Arkansas TV debates on demand at the Arkansas TV YouTube channel and on our website.

The candidates have been invited, as mentioned before, invited to participate in individual press conferences immediately following the broadcast.

And you may continue watching our live stream at YouTube.com, slash at Arkansas TV or by scanning the QR code that's on your screen right now.

Again, our thanks to our candidates and our panelists for participating and of course, to you for watching Election Day.

Coming up.

In fact, it's Tuesday, November the 3rd, so make your voice heard.

Thanks again for watching.

Three.

Major funding for election 2026 Arkansas TV debates is provided by the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce.