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Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor Links Opponent to Ebola Outbreak

Incumbent Sen. Mark Pryor (D) is attacking opponent Tom Cotton (R) on Ebola, marking the first time the virus has become a campaign issue since the outbreak in West Africa.
Image: Mark Pryor
U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., walks near near an entrance to Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock, Ark., after a news conference Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2014. Pryor faces a challenge from Republican Congressman Tom Cotton in the November election. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)Danny Johnston / AP

Ebola has now become a campaign issue, at least in Arkansas.

In that state's competitive Senate race, incumbent Democrat Mark Pryor is taking aim at Republican Tom Cotton for his congressional votes on federal funding.

"Tom Cotton voted against preparing America for pandemics for outbreaks like Ebola," the narrator in the Pryor TV ad states.

Adds another voice in the ad: "Congressman Cotton voted to cut billions from our nation's medical disaster and emergency programs."

More: "He was the only Arkansas congressman to vote this way."

This is the first TV ad we've seen this cycle in which a campaign has invoked the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

Cotton spokesman David Ray responded to the ad, saying: "Senator Pryor's desperation is comical. In Senator Pryor's world, he doesn't have to take responsibility for rubber-stamping the Obama agenda over 90% of the time, but wants Arkansans to believe Tom Cotton is responsible for everything from Ebola to crabgrass and male-pattern baldness."

Yesterday, a Republican Senate candidate in New Mexico used footage of the ISIS terrorist who killed journalist James Foley in a campaign video.

-- Mark Murray