Pryor hits Cotton for questioning his faith

Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) is hitting back at Rep. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) in a new ad for questioning his faith.

{mosads}The spot, first shared with The Hill, is aimed at touting Pryor’s religious conviction in the heavily religious state — and undercutting months of work Cotton’s campaign has put in to bolster his own image with positive ads.

Cotton said last week that Pryor thinks “faith is something that only happens at 11 o’clock on Sunday mornings” in response to the Hobby Lobby Supreme Court decision on the healthcare law’s contraception mandate. Pryor demanded an apology, but none was forthcoming, and the controversial comments got plenty of local attention.

The ad features local news coverage the kerfuffle, interspliced with the Bible verse, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.”

“I’m not ashamed to say that I believe in God, and I believe in His word. The Bible teaches us no one has all the answers, only God does,” Pryor says in the ad. “This is who I am and what I believe.”

Pryor and Cotton have been neck and neck in most public polling in the heavily Republican state. Pryor has been able to stay in the fight by painting Cotton as too conservative and arrogant — and Cotton’s most recent comments might hurt his likability in the state in a top target for Senate Republicans this fall.