TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona Republican Senate candidate Kelli Ward is “open” to backing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., as the GOP leader in 2019 if she is elected.

Ward, a conservative who has tried to ally herself closely with the president, told the Washington Examiner that she is not ruling out a vote for McConnell, with whom she has clashed throughout the past three years while running for the Senate. She left the door open because she is not sure who will be up for the post next year.