Arkansas senator Mark Pryor, one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the country, is now supporting a delay of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate, according to CNN.
NEW: Democrat @SenMarkPryor tells CNN he wants to extend Obamacare deadline, agrees with @SenatorShaheen (via @psteinhauserCNN )
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) October 23, 2013
That’s a change from just one week ago, when Pryor told MSNBC that he opposes a delay. “Health care is going to be a big part of Tom Cotton’s campaign against you,” Chuck Todd said of the freshman congressman who is challenging Pryor for his seat in 2014. “Would you be in favor of a one-year delay in the individual mandate?”
“I am not in favor of that,” Pryor responded. Here he is last week:
The most recent poll in the race, conducted by Cotton’s campaign, has Cotton with a four-point lead over Pryor — within the poll’s margin of error. The race is expected to be a competitive one, and Republicans have high hopes that Cotton can knock off the the two-term senator based largely on his 2010 vote in favor of Obamacare and the president’s deep unpopularity in Arkansas.
New Hampshire’s Jeanne Shaheen yesterday became the first Democratic senator to publicly call for a delay of the individual mandate after the insurance exchanges’ problematic rollout. Just before the law’s debut, in late September, Democratic senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia endorsed the idea, too.