Rebekah L. Sanders

The Arizona Republic

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., plans to skip the Republican National Convention in July, he told Capitol Hill reporters Tuesday.

A tough fight to defend his seat will keep him home, McCain said. McCain faces several Republican primary challengers, and Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz., is also seeking to unseat him.

"I have to campaign for re-election, and I have always done that when I'm up," he told The Hill. "We have a late primary in Arizona" on Aug. 30.

But McCain hasn't missed a convention in more than 30 years, according to CNN. He has been a featured speaker going back to at least 1984.

McCain isn't the only senator with doubts about attending what could be a chaotic and divisive national convention.

Donald Trump hasn't yet won enough delegates to secure the nomination outright, and Sen. Ted Cruz is battling the real-estate mogul for presidential delegates to support the Texas senator in a convention fight. If Trump loses at the convention, he has predicted his supporters will riot.

The prospect of such a scene has Sens. Mark Kirk of Illinois, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and Richard Burr of North Carolina considering skipping the event, CNN said. Some corporate sponsors are also debating whether to scale back involvement.

National Democrats seized on the decision by McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, to bash the GOP field as an embarrassment to its former standard-bearers.

"For those of you keeping score at home — the last GOP nominee (Mitt Romney) is actively campaigning against his party’s frontrunner, the previous GOP nominee (McCain) is so nervous he won't even attend the convention, and the nominee before him (George W. Bush) probably won’t be invited to speak, lest he remind voters what happened the last time a Republican was in the White House," Democratic National Committee spokesman Mark Paustenbach said in a written statement. "What a disaster for the GOP."

McCain said it's "a concern" that the Republican presidential nominee could hurt the chances of the party's U.S. Senate and House candidates. But he will support the party’s nominee, he said.

Kirkpatrick's campaign said she is giving McCain "the toughest re-election fight of his career" and criticized him for pledging to support the GOP nominee after criticizing both Trump and Cruz.

"All McCain really did today was reiterate that he would still support a 'dangerous' Donald Trump or 'wacko bird' Ted Cruz for president," Kirkpatrick campaign spokesman D.B. Mitchell said. "Arizona voters see right through McCain now after 33 years in Washington, and hiding from the convention for the first time in three decades won't change that."

McCain campaign spokeswoman Lorna Romero responded: "John McCain will be working and campaigning throughout Arizona during the convention. He has always taken every election seriously. This year is no different."