“Retired astronaut Mark Kelly is taking steps toward a bid against Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ) in 2020, identifying potential staffers and strategists and meeting with Democrats around Arizona — though his allies say no final decision has been made,” The Hill reports.
“Democratic sources said Kelly, the husband of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D), has been calling and meeting with top Democratic activists in Arizona since late last year.”
Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) is recruiting Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), a rising Democratic star in the House, to run for the Arizona Senate seat long held by John McCain, The Hill reports.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) and the GOP are definitely taking a gamble on appointing Rep. Martha McSally (R) to the U.S. Senate, “who will have several challenges to confront as she tries to keep the seat in GOP hands in 2020,” according to First Read:
“Then again, who was going to be a better candidate for Republicans? McSally, after all, is an outgoing GOP congresswoman; her military service made history; and she’s run in plenty of tough races before.”
Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) will replace retiring Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) to fill for the next two years the Senate seat long held by the late Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republic reports.
Gov. Doug Ducey’s (R) decision to appoint McSally, announced in a statement Tuesday and effective next month, revives her political life less than two months after she narrowly lost the race for the state’s other Senate seat to Kyrsten Sinema (D).
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) will resign from the U.S. Senate on Dec. 31, the Arizona Republic has confirmed, setting up a second appointment by Gov. Doug Ducey (R) to the seat once occupied by the late John McCain.
Ducey is required under law to name another Republican to the seat. A replacement to the Senate seat “will be announced in the near future,” according to the Governor’s Office.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) “has lost enthusiasm for appointing fellow Republican Rep. Martha McSally to the Senate in recent weeks even as Republican leaders in Washington have championed her,” the Washington Post reports.
“Ducey has made no firm decision and McSally, who narrowly lost this year’s Senate race, remains a finalist to fill the seat that John McCain held for decades, should it soon open up as expected. But her stock has fallen in the eyes of the governor, according to two people familiar with his thinking, as Ducey approaches one of the most significant decisions of his political career.”
Rep. Martha McSally’s (R-AZ) campaign released an interesting memo which concludes that a key reason she lost the U.S. Senate race was due to the “ideological fissures” in the state Republican party.
“Days after the midterm election, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey spoke privately about a sensitive topic with far-reaching implications — the Senate seat that John McCain held for three decades before his death in August,” the Washington Post reports.
“In a telephone call confirmed by two people familiar with the conversation, McConnell (R-KY) told Ducey: If there is an opening, consider appointing Martha McSally, the Republican congresswoman who came up short in her bid for Arizona’s other Senate seat this year.”
“But some Republicans in Arizona, including those in Ducey’s inner circle, have reservations about appointing McSally. They have questioned her campaign’s strategic decisions and wondered why she was not able to win in a state that President Trump carried in 2016 and where Ducey coasted to reelection this year.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) “is leveraging his political power to try to convince Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) to choose Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ) to replace Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), who is considering leaving his seat before his term ends,” CNN reports.
“McSally, a Republican congresswoman who once worked for Kyl, lost her Senate bid two weeks ago to Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema. Kyl, who was picked by the governor in September to fill the seat vacated by the late Sen. John McCain. told CNN last week he has decided whether to leave office before his term ends at the end of next year. He wouldn’t reveal his decision, but said he will talk to Ducey about it.”
Martha McSally (R), who was locked in a too-close-to-call race with Kyrsten Sinema (D), called her opponent and conceded Monday after Sinema’s lead widened, the Arizona Republic reports.
“The concession marked the end of a heated neck-and-neck battle between McSally and Sinema over who would fill the seat Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) decided not to defend.”
The Cook Political Report projects that Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D) has defeated Rep. Martha McSally (R) in the U.S. Senate race in Arizona.
“This thing has been over for a while.”
Kyrsten Sinema (D) again widened her lead again over Martha McSally (R), “a pivotal day in the U.S. Senate race as the number of uncounted ballots dwindled,” the Arizona Republic reports.
“Sinema expanded her lead to 32,640 votes — a 1.5 percentage-point lead. Her campaign manager predicted her victory was inevitable.”
Kyrsten Sinema (D) expanded her narrow lead in Arizona’s U.S. Senate on Saturday with gains in Maricopa and Pima counties erasing smaller losses to Martha McSally (R) elsewhere around the state, th Arizona Republic reports.
Sinema’s lead grew to 29,832 votes and gave her a 1.4 percentage point advantage.
While McSally’s vote deficit grew, Republicans took aim at the election process. In a statement Saturday, the National Republican Senatorial Committee attacked Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, saying he “has been using his position to cook the books for Kyrsten Sinema.”
Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D) more than doubled her lead over Rep. Martha McSally (R) in the heated Arizona Senate race after a new round of ballots were tallied in the Democrat’s favor late Friday, The Hill reports.
Sinema now leads her GOP challenger by 21,185 votes.
“Republicans in Arizona and nationally are stoking claims of deliberate election fraud in the state’s U.S. Senate race as Martha McSally (R) and Kyrsten Sinema (D) await results of a vote that could swing in either’s favor,” the Arizona Republic reports.
“The tight race has left Republicans in jeopardy of losing a Senate seat in the state for the first time in 30 years.”
“Though McSally held a lead in early vote totals, the tally flipped in Sinema’s favor Thursday night. Updated early results Friday morning kept Sinema with a 9,000-plus advantage, but an estimated 400,000 ballots remained to be counted.”
“Suspense and uncertainty now hang over the U.S. Senate race, where Kyrsten Sinema (D) and Martha McSally (R) are locked in a race separated by just 2,106 votes,” the Arizona Republic reports.
“The updated results, updated at 5 p.m. Thursday, was the first time since election night that the results were substantively updated.”
“Arizona’s former Green Party Senate candidate Angela Green is defending herself against accusations that she has spoiled the Democrat’s chances of winning the race,” the Washington Post reports.
“While the race is still too close to call, Republican nominee Martha McSally currently leads Democratic nominee Kyrsten Sinema by 15,908 votes (with 99.3 percent of precincts reporting). Green got more than twice that amount, 38,597 votes, despite dropping out of the race less than a week before Election Day — too late for her name to be removed from the ballot.”
The Arizona Green Party’s U.S. Senate candidate told KPNX that she is getting out of the race and throwing her support to Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ).
The decision, just five days before the election, could remove a potential obstacle for Sinema in her toss-up race against Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ).
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
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