Cotton Senate campaign says he raised $3.8 million over past 3 months for Arkansas Senate bid

Arkansas Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton's campaign on Tuesday said he's raised nearly $4 million over the past three months as he heads into the final weeks of his bid for a U.S. Senate seat.

Cotton's campaign said the freshman lawmaker raised $3.8 million during the third quarter. Cotton is seeking to unseat Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor, who's running for a third term. Pryor has not yet announced how much he raised during the same period.

Cotton's campaign didn't say how much he had spent or how much cash on hand he has for his Senate bid. Cotton said he believed the figures showed he was well positioned for the final weeks of the campaign.

"It is the work of our thousands of volunteers and supporters in Arkansas and around the country that will lift us to victory," Cotton said in a statement released by his campaign.

The race is one of the most heated and expensive in the country. Republicans need to pick up six seats to win a majority in the Senate, and they view the Arkansas race as key to that effort.

The two candidates and outside groups have spent more than $32 million on the race, according to the nonprofit Sunlight Foundation. Pryor was first elected to the Senate in 2002 and is the only Democrat in Arkansas' congressional delegation. Cotton was elected in 2012 to represent south Arkansas' 4th Congressional District.