POssibly, although given that McSally took 52% of the vote in that primary, it hardly seems like Joe made a difference.
“Possibly, although given that McSally took 52% of the vote in that primary, it hardly seems like Joe made a difference.”
Very hard to say. With the conservative vote split, I think we all knew McSally was going to win a majority. I know a number of voters who preferred Ward but said it wasn’t worth voting because Ward couldn’t win with Arpaio in the race.
The problem with getting Ward elected would have been two-fold:
1 - Just 6 weeks from the primary to the first votes cast in Arizona! Works as an incumbent protection scheme. Sinema started her run for Senate in April. Whoever won the GOP primary effectively started running in September, with the first votes cast in October!
2 - The Cheap Labor Express wing (McCain, Flake) would probably have voted for Sinema out of spite. Unlike the Stop Illegal Immigration side, which I think fell in line behind McSally. Holding our noses, but we voted to try to stop Sinema. The CLE would have preferred Sinema over Ward. Like McCain, they always understand liberals and passionately HATE conservatives!
You may be right, but, if I’m not mistaken, AZ has open primaries. Its possible the crossover voters knew McSally would be easy to beat.