Elections

Chris McDaniel Endorses Kelli Ward In Arizona Race Against John McCain

photo credit:Kelli Ward for U.S. Senate

Kerry Picket Political Reporter
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Mississippi state Sen. Chris McDaniel has endorsed Kelli Ward, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Arizona who is running against five-­term incumbent Sen. [crscore]John McCain[/crscore], The Daily Caller has learned.

“Kelli will be a ‘Bold, Fresh, Fearless’ conservative champion in the U.S. Senate,” McDaniel, a 2014 U.S. Senate candidate, said in a statement. “She will stand with Cruz, Lee, and Paul for the right to life, for the 10th Amendment, for killing Common Core, replacing Obamacare with free-­market medicine, keeping our promises to our veterans, and finally securing our borders and stopping illegal immigration once and for all.”

Ward, a military wife, mother of three, family physician and former Arizona state senator, welcomed McDaniel’s endorsement. “We’re proud to earn Senator McDaniel’s support. Conservatives all across America are excited about the momentum we’re gaining to retire John McCain.”

McDaniel faced longtime Mississippi Republican Sen. [crscore]Thad Cochran[/crscore] during the 2014 Republican primary and beat Cochran by more than 1,400 votes, but did not reach the level of support — 50 percent — needed to avoid a run-off. Cochran won the run-off with the help of Democratic voters who crossed over to vote in the GOP primary.

A May 17 Public Policy Polling survey shows McCain leading Ward 39 percent to 26 percent, with three other candidates pulling 9 percent and 27 percent undecided. In a one-on-one matchup with McCain, Ward is tied with him with 41 percent.

McCain, who was the Republican presidential nominee in 2008, is 79 years old and running for a sixth term in Congress. The PPP poll shows only 35 percent of Arizona Republican voters approve of McCain’s job performance, while 50 percent disapprove.

“John McCain has surrendered on all the issues that matter most: the federal takeover of education, Obamacare and Planned Parenthood funding, Wall Street bailouts, amnesty for illegal immigrants, too many Middle East misadventures to count, and at least 21 to debt ceiling increases, mortgaging America’s future for generations to come, $17.5 trillion of our $19 trillion national debt,” McDaniel said.

McDaniel added, “The only Republican who can win the people’s Senate seat in Arizona is Dr. Kelli Ward because of her vast, real-­life experience outside politics.”

He said the McCain campaign is attempting to do to Ward what “the establishment” did to him during his campaign against Cochran two years ago.

McCain’s allies chalk up his current re-election struggle to voter disdain toward Washington insiders.

“The basic problem for John McCain is the same kind of thing that faces a lot of incumbents right now. He’s been there a long time. People are leery of Washington. They don’t like Washington,” former Arizona Republican Rep. Jim Kolbe told The Hill back in March.

McCain’s campaign recently attacked Ward with an ad highlighting a town hall meeting on the “chemtrails” conspiracy theory, The Arizona Republic reports.

“The fact is that Kelli Ward has often sided with conspiracy theorists, proving that she is too dangerous for Arizona families,” McCain campaign spokeswoman Lorna Romero told the Republic.

“Senator McCain is running scared silly,” Ward campaign spokesman Stephen Sebastian replied in a statement to Arizona newspaper. “Conspiracy theories are intellectually implausible because they require secrecy about complex coordination on a massive scale. When incorrect information about environmental quality issues is causing enough consternation to fill up a town hall meeting, it is a senator’s job to connect concerned constituents with expert government officials to correct and clarify misconceptions.”

In 2015, McCain forwarded a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency from a constituent who was concerned about “chemtrails,” which conspiracists worry are the emissions from airplane jets.

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