Martha McSally campaign in line for $5 million from GOP establishment

Ronald J. Hansen | The Republic | azcentral.com

Show Caption Hide Caption Who is Martha McSally? U.S. Rep. Martha McSally has announced her candidacy for the U.S. Senate.

Some of Arizona’s most prominent business leaders have reserved nearly $5 million in TV ad time this fall to support Republican Martha McSally’s Senate bid, a spokesman for the group said.

DefendArizona, as the new political-action committee is known, appears to be a combination of deep pockets and establishment Republicans who have sought to stave off extremist candidates in their party, including now-President Donald Trump.

The group has already drawn $220,000 from Randy Kendrick, Paul Baker and Craig Barrett, according to records with the Federal Election Commission.

The reservation for time during the general election offers an indication of their confidence that McSally, a Tucson-area congresswoman, will claim the GOP nomination for the state’s open Senate seat and a reminder of how pricey the nationally watched race is expected to be.

The super PAC's treasurer is Benjamin Ottenhoff. He is the former chief financial officer of the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee. He also headed the failed efforts to defeat the polarizing Roy Moore in the Alabama Republican primary last year.

More recently, Ottenhoff was part of the successful effort to defeat another controversial Republican candidate in the West Virginia Senate primary, Don Blankenship. Blankenship is the former CEO of Massey Energy Corp., who served a year behind bars for willfully violating mining safety standards at a site where 29 miners died in 2010.

"The future control of the U.S. Senate hinges on Arizona electing a consistent conservative who will vote to approve the right judges, secure our porous border and eliminate government waste," said Barrett Marson, a spokesman for DefendArizona. "Martha McSally deserves this significant investment to support a conservative agenda in the U.S. Senate."

McSally, who is in her second term in the House of Representatives, is battling conservative hardliners Joe Arpaio, the former Maricopa County sheriff, and Kelli Ward, a former state senator, for the GOP nomination.

U.S. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Arizona, is considered the favorite to win the Democratic nomination. She is facing progressive challenger Deedra Abboud, a Phoenix attorney and community activist, in Aug. 28 Senate primary.

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The race is widely viewed as essential to Democratic efforts to retake the Senate in the November midterm elections.

Sinema has been on television since April touting herself as the kind of problem-solver needed to break through the partisan log jam in Washington.

Since jumping into the Senate race, McSally has reshaped her persona from a pragmatic conservative who kept Trump at arm's length to a more enthusiastic Trump supporter.

Loyalty to Trump is a major theme in the GOP primary, with McSally playing up her status as the most reliable vote for the White House among Arizona's congressional delegation.

McSally is already receiving help from One Nation, a Virginia-based non-profit "social welfare" organization with ties to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and GOP adviser Karl Rove, both of whom have seen their influence tested in the Trump era.

In December, after the GOP lost the Alabama Senate race with Moore as their nominee, McConnell discussed his plans to bring resources to bear for more electable candidates.

"I and my allies will make every effort to make sure we have a nominee on the November ballot who can appeal to a general election audience," he said.

Marson said DefendArizona has similar aims.

"Polls have shown Martha McSally is the strongest candidate both in August and November," he said, referring to Arizona's primary and general election time frame.

The McSally campaign did not have an immediate comment on the super PAC's planned support. The Arpaio campaign could not be immediately reached for comment.

Ward spokesman Zachery Henry said the group's support for McSally is not surprising.

Rep. Martha McSally announces run for U.S. Senate Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., address immigration, the economy and working with President Donald Trump as she announces her campaign for U.S. Senate on Jan. 12, 2018, in Phoenix. Thomas Hawthorne/azcentral.com

"We expect all of the Never Trumpers to stick together. The reality is that no amount of money will be enough to transform Martha McSally into a pro-border security candidate when she’s voted for mass amnesty 11 times," he said. "Dr. Kelli Ward will be the Republican nominee for Senate in Arizona."

Marson declined to discuss DefendArizona's current finances, but FEC records show at least three names backing the super PAC, which can spend unlimited amounts though it cannot coordinate with a campaign.

One of the big backers of DefendArizona, Kendrick, was a prominent opponent of Trump in early 2016 who had backed Florida Sen. Marco Rubio in the 2016 GOP presidential primary. She has given at least $100,000 to the pro-McSally effort by DefendArizona.

Kendrick is married to Ken Kendrick, the owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks. She was unavailable for comment Friday.

While there are no clear financial connections between Randy Kendrick and Trump, they both backed Patrick Morrisey, the Republican who won the West Virginia Senate nomination over Blankenship. Kendrick gave $50,000 in April to 35th Inc., a super PAC that supported Morrisey.

Baker is a retired banker who also was involved in a women's apparel company later sold to Fingerhut. So far, he has given at least $100,000 to DefendArizona. He gave $10,000 to U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake's Victory Committee two weeks before Flake announced he would not seek a second term. He also gave that committee $50,000 in March 2017.

He supported former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in the 2016 GOP presidential primary.

Barrett is the retired former CEO of Intel who is now the chairman of Basis Charter Schools Inc. He gave Flake's Victory Committee $13,000 five days before Flake quit the race. He also gave to Rubio, Bush and former executive Carly Fiorina in 2016.

In March, he gave $2,700 to Trump's campaign. He has given at least $20,000 to DefendArizona.

Yvonne Wingett Sanchez contributed to this report.

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