In Gilbert, a town of more than 200,000 people outside Phoenix, McSally satdown to talk local issues with the mayor outside a bustling coffee shop in the mild winter warmth before taking a walking tour of the small downtown, hitting up a few local spots to hand out pins for the towns centennial. She talked with constituents and took pictures including with one woman who asked about Trumps rally and told her, please more of them, in reference to the attack ads against Kelly.
She also toured a local Bishops Storehouse run by the Mormon church and gave an update on her work in Washington, including talking about the seven bills she sponsored that were signed into law shes tied with Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) for most among senators, according to GovTrack. She then squeezed in a roundtable with female small business owners at the local chamber of commerce, all jammed into five hours before she jetted across town to speak at Trumps rally.
There, she bashed Kelly, telling the crowd he was flying on Bernie Sanders wing, and Im flying on your wing, President Trump.
Democrats are just as eager to emphasize how closely McSally aligned with Trump. In an interview, Kelly said it’s important to have independence representing Arizona, and McSally lacks it.
Weve seen that in this state before from other U.S. senators. Im concerned that were losing that, Kelly said, pointing to McSally’s votes to repeal Obamacare and support Trumps emergency declaration at the border, even though funds have been diverted from Arizona military projects to build the wall.
Democrats’ campaign plan against McSally is essentially the same as in 2018: run a centrist against her, criticize her on health care and pre-existing conditions and attack her for being too aligned with Trump in a state the party believes will be a major presidential battleground. Democratic Arizona Rep. Ruben Gallego, a liberal who considered running forSenatebut now supports and has campaigned with Kelly, said Arizona, with its increasingly diverse electorate, is trending toward Democrats and McSally hasn’t kept up.
Things have only gotten worse for her since 2018, Gallego said. “And I dont 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.
McSally,who drew support from Trump’s campaign last month for a brief confrontation with a CNN reporter in a Capitol hallway, got an energetic reception from the crowd at the Trump rally that evening. In conversations with attendees, most spoke positively about the senator, though with less enthusiasm than they had for Trump.
Being the first female fighter pilot and stuff like that, I think, is a really cool thing to have under your belt, Chris Montgomery, who works compliance at a bank in Phoenix, said about McSally. Going up against an astronaut is never easy. But, like I said, I think shes done a good job so far sticking it to their face.
Kellys impressive biography is never far from mind in the race: His campaign liberally uses space puns in its public statements, and released their first TV ad last week introducing his biography to voters.Kelly himself is quick to reference it. During a visit to a public school with career training programs in Phoenix last week, Kelly met several students in scrubs and pointed to one who had gauze on his arm from having blood drawn. I used to have to do that at NASA, he said, adding that he needed the skill in case you have to do it in space.
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 a43 percent approval rating and a 46 percent disapproval rating. Kelly had 42 percent approval and only 24 percent disapproval, but one-third of voters didnt know him.
Thats why Republicans leaped at the opportunity to tie him to Sanders surge. Kelly has said hed support the Democratic nominee in November but emphasized his disagreements with the presidential frontrunner.
There are policies that Sen. Sanders has and put out there that I dont agree with, like taking away private health insurance from individuals. Ive been very clear about that, Kelly said in the interview. Ive also been very clear about the administration in the White House and the trajectory our country has been on. Elections are about choices.
He declined to say who he would choose in Arizonas presidential preference ballot on March 17 and demurred when asked if he could win the state if Sanders is atop the ticket.
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 shes 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.
“It was right after the impeachment vote,” said McSally. “Its right as Bernie is surging, and people need to know that.”