Flake ran as a Tea Party conservative, and had a reasonable record in the House. He changed noticeably between when he was elected in November and when he took office in January, and has been a total turd ever since.
But Arizona wasn’t acting stupid by electing him to the Senate - once! If he thought he had a prayer of winning, he would not have dropped out.
McCain...think enormous name recognition with the 1/3 of AZ voters who are “Independents” and who get to vote in the primary. Plus millions of cash to run ads day & night during the primary, since he knows he doesn’t need any to win in the general election.
It also doesn’t help that Arizona borders Mexico and California...
That is why I never voted for a Tea Party candidate. Seems like they were just a fad
Flake was a Cheap Labor Express stooge in the House before he got to the Senate and so is the GOPe preferred candidate for his seat, Martha McSally.