Rep. Martha McSally won a resounding victory in Tuesday’s Arizona Senate Republican primary, defeating former state Sen. Kelli Ward and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
McSally took home the win after pulling away from Ward over the final weeks of the primary campaign. In the closing stretch, McSally bashed Ward in a TV ad for past statements on President Trump and immigration before subsequently taking aim at likely Democratic nominee Kyrsten Sinema less than a week before election day.
Ahead of Tuesday, McSally also projected her confidence by laying low on Sunday and Monday, deciding against holding campaign events as Ward barnstormed the state for the final days on a bus tour headlined by conservative commentator Tomi Lahren and Mike Cernovich, a well-known propagator of conspiracy theories. She also received a boost in the form of the final public poll by ABC 15/OH Predictive Insights that showed her leading by 20 points — up from the 8-point lead she held in July.
The Tucson-based congresswoman’s victory also is a boon for national Republicans in their quest to keep the Senate in GOP control. A loss to Ward would have all but ruled out Republicans keeping the seat occupied by Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. Since losing in Alabama last year, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and his allies have pushed almost all of their preferred candidates through primaries and into November.
“I had some painful experiences with that,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, referring to his chairmanship of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) from 2007-11.
President Trump’s presence loomed large ahead of Tuesday as each candidate tried to portray themselves as his closest ally. McSally touted positive remarks made by the president, most recently at an event in New York celebrating the signing of the National Defense Authorization Act. Ward pointed to comments Trump made about her while she ran against Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., last year before he dropped out. Arpaio received Trump’s first presidential pardon.
While defeating Ward was one step toward November, the big test lies ahead with Sinema, who McSally has wasted no time attacking and has tried to focus on throughout the primary fight. Days ahead of the primary, McSally launched a blistering ad against her fellow House member over protests against the Iraq War in a pink tutu. A retired fighter pilot in the Air Force, McSally served in Iraq before retiring in 2010.
Nevertheless, Republicans are hardly taking Sinema for granted.
“She’s going to have a lot of national resources. We’re taking her as a very serious threat,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., the co-chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. “I think that McSally’s got the attention of people across the country, so I think we match up pretty well.
“It’s going to be a dogfight,” Tillis added. “I also know Martha McSally’s up for a dogfight.”
With just over two months until Election Day, Democrats are confident in Arizona, a state that remains dominated by Republicans at the statewide level.
“Kyrsten Sinema is running a great campaign on a strong record, and we’re very bullish on the race,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.
The Flake seat is one of top three held by Republicans that Democrats are targeting in November, including in Nevada with Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., and Tennessee with Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., to replace the outgoing Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn.
