SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., took home a key endorsement Wednesday from the National Border Patrol Council as she looks to show off her immigration credentials and break free from a contentious GOP Senate primary battle set for Aug. 28.
McSally, a two-term congresswoman from Tucson, was flanked by national and local border officials who heaped praise on her work to curb illegal immigration and as the only person in the race to be a consistent voice for these issues. She won the endorsement over Dr. Kelli Ward, a chief critic of McSally, who has tried to make immigration a central issue of her campaign.
“There is only one person in this race on either side who is working with President Trump and our border patrol agents to finally secure our border,” McSally said in her remarks. She proceeded to rattle off a list of Trump’s immigration-related goals, including building a wall along the southern border and increasing the number of border patrol agents.
“They say they’ve got my back in this race,” McSally said of the border representatives present, “and that matters in the political clutter … We are down to the wire. It is a sprint to the finish. There’s a lot of noise out there and this message should break through the noise.”
The endorsement is a boost to McSally’s campaign just under three weeks from the primary election. McSally leads Ward by an 8-point margin, according to the latest RealClearPolitics poll, for the right to take on Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., in November.
The council also endorsed Trump back in March 2016. McSally has closely aligned herself with the president in the run-up to Aug. 28. Judd said that the decision to back the Arizona Republican wasn’t a tough one at all.
“To us, she was a no-brainer,” Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, told the Washington Examiner following the announcement. “I spend an awful lot of time on the Hill, I spend an awful lot of time talking with senators, House of Representatives, and Martha McSally has always been receptive.”
“For border security purposes, she is the person,” said Judd, a vocal ally of Trump.
Immigration has been central in the battle between the two GOP Senate candidates, along with Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who is a distant third in polling. Ward said Tuesday that she supports nuking the legislative filibuster to build a wall along the southern border.
It’s also a topic that will certainly come up between the primary and the general election as government funding is set to expire at the end of September. Trump has reiterated over the past few weeks that he is prepared to force a government shutdown in order to win an increase from the $1.6 billion requested by the White House in an upcoming spending package. McSally believes that is a fight worth having.
“This is a legitimate fight to have. … We need to have this fight and make sure we secure the border, and we’ll keep fighting until we get through the finish line,” McSally told reporters after the event, adding that she supports the elimination of the filibuster in the Senate to ensure passage of appropriations bills.
“They need to make it painful,” McSally said. “I think they should definitely bring it down for appropriations bills.”
