Pryor will vote to increase debt ceiling

The most vulnerable Democratic senator up for reelection this year said Wednesday he will vote to increase the $17.2 trillion debt ceiling.

“I don’t want to see us default on our national debt,” Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) said. 

{mosads}The bill is a “clean” increase through March 15, 2015, and has no policy changes attached to it. 

In an automated GOP poll from Harper Polling this week, Rep. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) leads Pryor 42 percent to 36 percent in the race Republicans feel most confident about winning. President Obama’s approval rating in the state is 31 percent in the poll, which is in line with other surveys of Arkansas.

Vulnerable Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) also said he is on board on Wednesday. 

“I have been consistent in making sure we don’t default on the bills that we owe,” he said. 

Begich is expected to have a tough race in the fall, likely against either Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell (R) or former Attorney General Dan Sullivan (R). 

It remains to be seen whether Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) will vote for the clean increase.

Hagan is tied with North Carolina House Speaker Thom Tillis (R) in the Harper Polling survey while Landrieu is expected to have a close race with Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-La.). An automated poll from Democratic-aligned Public Policy Polling on Tuesday showed the two in a virtual tie.