Cotton moves key aide to political operation

A top aide to Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton is leaving the senator’s office to expand his political operation, a move that comes as Cotton takes steps to prepare a 2024 presidential bid.

Brian Colas, who has worked in Cotton’s office since 2015 and ran his 2020 reelection campaign, is departing to launch a political consulting firm and to work on Cotton’s PAC. The senator has used the committee as a vehicle to bolster other Republicans ahead of the midterm elections.

Cotton is aggressively laying the groundwork for a 2024 White House bid, embarking on a campaign swing for Republican candidates — including those running in early presidential nominating states like Iowa and New Hampshire. Early next month, he is set to publish a book detailing his views on national security and military policy, which will be accompanied by a promotional tour. And he has invited his donors to a post-midterm election retreat at the Salamander Resort & Spa in Middleburg, Va.

Colas has been a central player in Cotton’s orbit, having served as his deputy chief of staff and legal counsel. Cotton called Colas a “trusted advisor and friend” in a statement, and he said he would “continue to benefit from his counsel.”

South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott has also begun to take steps to buttress his political operation ahead of a prospective 2024 bid. Jennifer DeCasper, a longtime Scott adviser, recently left his office to help guide his political activities ahead of the midterm election and to advise a newly created, pro-Scott super PAC.

Cotton earlier this week campaigned for Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker, who has been besieged by allegations that he paid for a former girlfriend to get an abortion. (Walker has repeatedly denied the claim, which POLITICO has not independently verified.) Cotton is weighing returning to the state to campaign for Walker again before the election.

He is also expected to travel to Pennsylvania, to boost Senate candidate Mehmet Oz, and to Iowa, where he will campaign for GOP Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks.

Cotton has made clear that a comeback bid by former President Donald Trump would not deter him from seeking the Republican nomination in 2024. Addressing donors at a retreat in Washington this past June, Cotton said he wouldn’t defer to any other potential candidate — including Trump — and said he would make a final decision on whether to run after the midterm election.