Arkansas Senate Race 2014: ABC News' '14 For 14'

Arkansas Senate Race 2014

ByABC News

January 27, 2014, 3:33 PM

 -- ABC News' "14 For 14" project is documenting 14 races that matter between now and November. This page will be updated throughout the year. See the full list of 2014 midterm election contests the ABC News political team is tracking.

THE PLAYERS

THE STAKES

Are Democrats heading towards extinction in the South? The Arkansas Senate race between incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor and first-term Republican Rep. Tom Cotton may help answer that question. Pryor, the lone Democrat in Arkansas' congressional delegation, will face one of the toughest Senate races in the country this year -- maybe the toughest. Both the GOP establishment and the Tea Party have rallied behind Cotton, a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan with a pair of Harvard degrees on his resume.

THE OUTLOOK

Pryor is considered the most vulnerable incumbent Democratic senator in 2014, and ABC News rates this race as a toss-up. The race comes at a time when Americans are split over their support of President Obama's signature health care law, an issue Cotton will raise early and often in his campaign. And the race will likely see an influx of money with groups like the Senate Conservatives Fund, an outside group promoting conservative candidates, declaring Pryor its top target in 2014. Meanwhile, look for Bill and Hillary Clinton to try to help Pryor hold onto his seat. His father, David, was a governor and senator and one of Bill Clinton's closest Arkansas allies.