TEMPE, Ariz. — Kelli Ward’s Senate campaign has a Joe Arpaio problem.
With just over two weeks until the Arizona primary election, Ward has been forced to fend off attacks from the former Maricopa County sheriff’s campaign, particularly from two vengeful staffers, as the two-time Senate candidate tries to gain ground on Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., the favorite to win the nomination to replace Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.
While Ward has been intently focused on McSally, Arpaio’s efforts have turned into a distraction. A video released last week claimed to feature an inebriated Ward singing a Grandmaster Flash song during karaoke in 2017, complete with vulgarities. Two staffers — Dustin Stockton, Arpaio’s senior strategist, and Jennifer Lawrence, the campaign’s communications director — took responsibility after jumping on the campaign just over a week ago.
Ward dismissed the attacks in an interview, arguing that they are “sad” and that it reflects poorly on the legacy of Arpaio, 86.
“It’s pretty sick and sad, isn’t it?” Ward said in an interview at her campaign office. “It’s certainly very clear that he’s not ready yet to be a United States senator. What you can judge it by: His knowledge of policy and of the issues of the day, or you could judge it by the people he’s chosen to surround himself with on this very important campaign.”
“An open U.S. Senate seat doesn’t come around every day, and to think that they’ve got these game-players and these amateurs and these people who have personal vendettas running a U.S. Senate candidates operation, it saddens me for Joe because whatever legacy he has left is really being dismantled systematically by those people,” Ward said. “But of course they want to take me down too, apparently.”
The two operatives came on board just over a week ago and have quickly turned Arpaio’s campaign into an effort to derail Ward. While they aren’t fans of McSally by any stretch of the imagination, their antipathy for Ward runs deep. They accuse Ward’s campaign of not paying them after reaching certain benchmarks while they worked from the campaign — having left the campaign last September after two consultants were hired — and for spreading rumors about their personal lives that affected their employment.
“We’re not shy about that fact. We’re out for revenge,” Stockton said when asked about their vendetta against Ward. “We have to be able to work, and if they’re stopping us from making a living, we’re committed to destroying their political careers.”
The Ward campaign disputes Stockton’s characterization while declining to comment on the claim that the campaign didn’t pay.
“On the contrary, our campaign has encouraged any of Dr. Ward’s opponents to hire Dustin and Jennifer,” said Zach Henry, a Ward spokesman. The Ward campaign added that they do not comment on former staff contracts.
Beginning in July, Arpaio’s campaign — and especially his Twitter account — took a drastic anti-Ward turn. The account has slammed Ward for being “Kelli First” and promoting the video of Ward singing karaoke, which Stockton leaked.
Stockton is a former Breitbart hand who reveled in mixing things up on behalf of Steve Bannon, who eventually rose to White House chief strategist. Last week, Arpaio talked up the hiring of the two, saying they were key to putting him over the top in the primary.
“First of all, I have a new staff,” he said when asked what he was doing to win. “I brought in the big boys and gals.”
Political observers in the state have watched in amazement as Arpaio has turned against Ward. During his town hall, he ripped her for saying in a radio interview soon after Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., was diagnosed with glioblastoma that the longtime GOP senator should resign and that she should be appointed to the seat. He also accused Ward’s campaign of bribing him to leave the Senate race, which many believe would help her against McSally. Arpaio has made it clear he is not dropping out ahead of the Aug. 28 primary.
“It’s as much about self-promotion for them as it is for Arpaio,” said one Arizona-based GOP strategist. “They are just going apeshit.”
No public polls have been released since Arpaio’s new campaign hires. According to the latest RealClearPolitics average, McSally holds an 8-point advantage over Ward and a 14-point lead on the former sheriff.
