Martha McSally goes all-in with Trump as she launches Senate run
Here in Arizona, the Republican senatorial primary will have Representative Martha McSally, a former Air Force colonel and who declares that she's all in with Trump ("My friend Martha McSally; she's the real deal, she's tough," Trump said), along with Kelli Ward, a Tea Party favorite (nicknamed "Chemtrail Kelli" and endorsed by Steve Bannon), and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was recently pardoned by Trump.
On the Democratic side, Representative Kyrsten Sinema will face off against attorney and activist Deedra Abboud.
When McSally gave her announcement speech at the airport, three Democrats were kicked out:
This could be beneficial to the Democrats, who see the Republican primary as a "brutal civil war" within the party.
McSally was a co-sponsor of a bill that would have exempted Customs and Border Protection from having to comply with the Freedom of Information Act and various environmental regulations which might have hindered construction of the border wall that Trump wants along the border:
So, fellow RFers, how are the Midterm elections going in your state? Any news or excitement brewing?
Here in Arizona, the Republican senatorial primary will have Representative Martha McSally, a former Air Force colonel and who declares that she's all in with Trump ("My friend Martha McSally; she's the real deal, she's tough," Trump said), along with Kelli Ward, a Tea Party favorite (nicknamed "Chemtrail Kelli" and endorsed by Steve Bannon), and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was recently pardoned by Trump.
On the Democratic side, Representative Kyrsten Sinema will face off against attorney and activist Deedra Abboud.
When McSally gave her announcement speech at the airport, three Democrats were kicked out:
Although the airplane hanger where she gave her speech was far from crowded, a trio of Democrats were kicked out by McSally's team.
CD 2 congressional candidate Mary Matiella, along with Marion Chubon, head of a group opposing McSally known as Represent Me AZ, and Indivisible Southern Arizona's Kristyn Randel, were told to leave by Tucson airport police at the request of McSally's staff.
Chubon said they were told they would be arrested if they did not leave, "even though we have tickets" to the event.
The Democrats had not planned on disrupting the speech, Randel said.
"I just wanted to hear what she had to say, in person," she said.
McSally may have flown A-10s in the Air Force, but the rollout of her Senate campaign has been more like the slow, methodical preparations for a battle on the ground.
She is joining the race to succeed U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake with a trio of "special announcement" events across the state on Friday. She and her staff have for months refused to comment on her political plans, but it's been long apparent that she planned a run.
Already in the Republican primary race are former state legislator Kelli Ward and ex-Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who announced his run Tuesday. On the Democratic side, U.S. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema is facing off with activist Deedra Abboud in the Senate primary.
This could be beneficial to the Democrats, who see the Republican primary as a "brutal civil war" within the party.
On Friday, David Bergstein, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said the contest will be "nasty, expensive and very long. It will drain the GOP's resources, demoralize their voters, and expose the flaws in each of their candidates."
"Whoever survives this expensive civil war in August will be held accountable for their willingness to take stances on issues that are simply out of touch with Arizona voters," said Drew Anderson of the Arizona Democratic Party.
McSally was a co-sponsor of a bill that would have exempted Customs and Border Protection from having to comply with the Freedom of Information Act and various environmental regulations which might have hindered construction of the border wall that Trump wants along the border:
McSally pulled a provision that would have allowed Customs and Border Protection to evade FOIA laws from a border bill moving through Congress in October, after TucsonSentinel.com broke the news about the measurethe previous day in an exclusive story.
McSally was a co-sponsor of the measure — H.R. 3548 — which would have in part granted broad leeway to CBP — including the Border Patrol — to avoid complying with numerous laws when operating on "covered federal land," defined as areas within 100 miles of our southern or northern border. The agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security, has nearly 50,000 sworn officers and agents and is one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the world.
In addition to exempting the sprawling agency from a host of environmental laws in order to ease construction of President Donald Trump's border wall, the bill would have allowed CBP to refuse to disclose information on most of its border enforcement activities.
Congressional sources said providing path for CBP to dodge FOIA disclosures was not the intent of the provision, but wouldn't detail any reasons for it being included in the bill. McSally's staff said that they didn't know why the FOIA loophole had been included in the draft of the bill.
So, fellow RFers, how are the Midterm elections going in your state? Any news or excitement brewing?