Arizona lawmakers “are considering a bill that would take Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) seat off the November ballot if the six-term Arizona Republican, who is battling a deadly form of brain cancer, leaves office early,” the Arizona Republic reports.

TPM: “Statehouse Republicans seemingly tried to pull a fast one on their Democratic counterparts, quietly adding an emergency clause to a bipartisan bill to clean up special election laws in the state that would have handed Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) assurance that he’d get to appoint a replacement for McCain through 2020.”

A new Data Orbital poll in Arizona finds Martha McSally (R) leading the GOP Senate primary with 31%, followed by Joe Arpaio (R) at 22% and Kelli Ward (R) at 19%.

Another 27% is still undecided.

A new ABC15/OHPI poll in Arizona shows a right race in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate.

Martha McSally leads with 31%, followed by Joe Arpaio at 29% and Kelli Ward at 25%.

Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) told her fellow Arizona Republican House colleagues that she plans to run for the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Roll Call reports.

Arizona Republic: “But McSally can expect opposition from some on the right, including a political-action committee aligned with the conservative Club for Growth, which warned recently that it would oppose her candidacy.”

“I am seriously, seriously, seriously considering running for the U.S. Senate.”

— Sheriff Joe Arpaio, in an interview with the Daily Beast.

Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) is planning to enter Arizona’s 2018 Senate race, giving Kelli Ward (R) new competition in the GOP primary, the Arizona Republic reports.

“The lawmaker has told her Republican colleagues in Arizona’s delegation that she intends to enter the Senate race, but didn’t indicate when she would formally announce her bid.”

A new Data Orbital poll of likely Republican Senate primary voters in Arizona found 32% either definitely or probably voting for Kelli Ward (R), compared to 29% who said they were definitely or probably not voting for her.

Another 34% said it would depend on who gets in the race and 5% refused to answer.

“Politics is not for sissies.”

— Former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R), in a KNXV interview, on Sen. Jeff Flake’s (R-AZ) decision not to run again.

Jonathan Swan: “Flake was dead. Everybody knew it, including Republican leadership and the NRSC. The public polls showed he was going to lose badly to Kelli Ward and I’m told the internal polling wasn’t much better.”

“The GOP has a commitment to defend incumbents but money is finite, and they’re not about to pour endless amounts of cash into a losing race. Some senior officials, including several people who considered themselves close to Flake, were blindsided by his anti-Trump book.”

With Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) announcing he will not run for re-election, the Cook Political Report keeps the Arizona Senate race as a “toss up.”

“Right now, there are more questions than answers. The most important is whether an open seat will attract a first-tier candidate who is acceptable to both establishment and Trump Republicans. Other candidates will undoubtedly get into the race now, but Republicans need one who brings some gravitas and fundraising ability to the contest. Today, the identity of that candidate (or candidates) is not obvious.”