Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell obviously wanted congresswoman Martha McSally of Arizona to join his conference with a midterm win over Kyrsten Sinema. No such luck, Mitch. But now, amid reports that John Kyl (appointed in early September to the late John McCain’s seat) may hang it up very soon (he only promised to serve until the end of 2018), McConnell is lobbying Arizona governor Doug Ducey, who would again deal with an opening for that seat, to give McSally a ticket to the upper chamber, as CNN reports:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is leveraging his political power to try to convince Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey to choose Rep. Martha McSally to replace Republican Sen. Jon Kyl, who is considering leaving his seat before his term ends, several Republican sources familiar with the conversations tell CNN.
If chosen, McSally would fill the position through the end of 2020, at which point the state would hold a special election to fill the remaining two years of McCain’s term. The seat would then be on the ballot in 2022 to be filled for the following six years.
While speaking about McSally last week, Kyl told CNN that “Martha McSally would be a very good member of the United States Senate, however she got there,” adding, “I regret that she didn’t make it in her election.”
If this all works out, McSally would join her vanquisher Sinema (whom she accused in an October debate of “treason” for antiwar comments back in 2003) in the Senate. Then she’d have to run a Senate race again in 2020, and if she won, yet again in 2022. If nothing else, her name ID in Arizona would become near-universal. But I’m sure there are other Arizona Republicans who think someone else should get a chance at this particular brass ring.
