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The upstart tea party Republican who challenged Arizona Sen. John McCain last year and then set her sights on the state’s junior senator is suddenly in the national spotlight.
Former state Sen. Kelli Ward said Tuesday that Sen. Jeff Flake’s decision to bow out opens a clear path for her to win his U.S. Senate seat next year. But those statements come even as Arizona Republicans are looking for other candidates to put on the ballot because they consider her unlikely to be able to knock off Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema in the general election next year.
“It’s not about the candidate, Kelli Ward, it’s about protecting that seat and keeping it a Republican seat and keeping the seat, quite honestly, away from Kyrsten Sinema,” said Robert Graham, the former chair of the state Republican Party who is one of a host of people considering jumping into the race. “And I don’t believe, and many people don’t believe, that Kelli Ward is that person.”
Ward pushes back, saying people like Graham and the other potential candidates are establishment Republicans out of touch with the movement that elected President Donald Trump and that they don’t like the independence she showed in the state Legislature.
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