Trailing badly in the polls against a hero astronaut married to popular former Democratic lawmaker Gabby Giffords, Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ) is running a slash and burn campaign against her opponent that has some Republican officials worried she is repeating the same mistakes that cost her a win in the 2018 election.
According to a report from Politico, McSally, who was appointed to the U.S. Senate after fellow Republican Jeff Flake stepped down, is running hard to keep her seat with polls showing her seven points down to Mark Kelly, a Navy pilot who once commanded the space shuttle.
"McSally lost a blistering Senate race two years ago, but was appointed to the state's other Senate seat weeks later. Now she's back on the ballot for round 2 — defending her seat against a more imposing opponent in Kelly, with his sterling resume, massive fundraising and popular wife, Gabby Giffords," Politico reports while noting she is facing a monumental task.
"McSally raised more money than every other Republican senator last year, topping Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and well-known stalwarts like John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)," the report states. "But Kelly raised more than any senator or candidate of either party — $20.2 million — and had the biggest war chest entering 2020 of anyone on the ballot this year across the country."
Accordingly, Democrats hope to hang Donald Trump around her neck in a state that many think might be turning blue after the election of McSally's 2018 Democratic opponent, now-Senator Kyrsten Sinema.
According to Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) who dropped out of the race for the Senate seat and now supports Kelly, things have not gone well for McSally since she was appointed to her seat.
“Things have only gotten worse for her” Gallego explained. "And I don’t see her trying to change course.”
"McSally stood by her voting record with Trump — 91 percent in the Senate, according to FiveThirtyEight — saying it showed her colleagues were putting good legislation on his desk. She also defended voting to support the border emergency, saying Trump had the legal authority to declare it and blaming Democrats for creating a 'false choice' between funding the military and border security," Politico reports, before adding her support of the president has come at a cost.
"A poll conducted by a Phoenix-based GOP firm this month showed McSally down 7 percentage points to Kelly and well defined among voters, with a 43 percent approval rating and a 46 percent disapproval rating," the report states. "Kelly had 42 percent approval and only 24 percent disapproval, but one-third of voters didn’t know him."
As for Republicans, there is a fear the seat could be lost which could lead to the loss of control of the Senate in November.
"McSally ran a burn-it-all-down general election against Sinema, throwing out attacks at a roaring pace in the ten weeks between her primary and Election Day. But she makes no bones now about already turning negative against Kelly, even as some Republicans privately worry she’s repeating mistakes from the last race. Facing a cash deficit that's likely to grow, McSally said she had to fight early to define the race when she saw the opening," Politico concludes.
You can read the whole piece here.
