As Arizona mourns John McCain, Rep. Martha McSally easily wins GOP nomination for Senate

Eliza Collins | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Here's who is running for Senate in Arizona Here's what you need to know about Arizona's Senate candidates: Kyrsten Sinema, Deedra Abboud, Joe Arpaio, Martha McSally and Kelli Ward.

WASHINGTON – Kelli Ward suggested an announcement about John McCain's cancer was designed to hurt her campaign. After the senator's death this past weekend, she doubled down on Twitter and blamed critics for taking her statements the wrong way.

But the physician and former state senator was unable to win the GOP nomination to replace Arizona's other GOP senator, Jeff Flake, in Tuesday's primary. Rep. Martha McSally, the establishment choice, came out well ahead of Ward, and that's good news for Republicans who believe McSally offers their best chance to keep the retiring lawmaker's seat come November.

On Saturday – just one day after the McCain family announced the longtime senator had ended medical treatment for his brain cancer – Ward suggested the timing of the announcement was designed to hurt her campaign. McCain died that evening.

Facing backlash over the comment, Ward remained defiant, tweeting early Monday, "Political correctness is like a cancer!" Later that day, she lashed out against the media and people offended by her comments.

"I do understand how many could have misconstrued my comments as insensitive," she said. "And for this, I apologize.

"But again, the intention of my comments were in no way directed at Senator McCain or his family."

Ward and McSally shared the ballot with former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio –President Donald Trump pardoned Arpaio for criminal contempt of court last August.

Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema easily won the Democratic nomination Tuesday night. Sinema ran against lawyer and consultant Deedra Abboud. Republicans concede Sinema will be a formidable opponent in November.

Arizona isn't the only state where voters are going to the polls Tuesday. Florida has primaries – including a fascinating race on both sides for governor – and Oklahoma has a handful of runoffs.

Here's what we'll be watching for as the results come in Tuesday night:

Arizona

Both McSally and Sinema leave behind competitive House districts. In McSally’s 2nd Congressional District – one of the biggest battlegrounds in the country – voters split almost evenly between Democrats and Republicans and it’s a packed primary on both sides of the aisle.

Four people seek the GOP nomination, with Lea Marquez Peterson, CEO of the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, favored by national Republicans. Marquez Peterson led early Wednesday morning. Meanwhile, seven Democrats wanted to flip the district back to blue. Former Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, who once represented a different district in the state won the Democratic nomination.

Rep. Tom O’Halleran aims to keep his seat in Congressional District 1, one of just a handful of districts President Trump won in 2016 that is held by a Democrat. He has no primary opponent, but there are three Republicans vying for the chance to beat him in the general election: Wendy Rogers, a pro-Trump retired Air Force colonel; Tiffany Shedd, a lawyer and cotton farmer, and Steve Smith, a former state lawmaker. As of early Wednesday morning that race had not been called.

Rep. David Schweikert – a conservative member of the House Freedom Caucus represents a district that has been red for years. But Democrats hope shifting boundaries and an ethics investigation into Schweikert's conduct will put the district in play.

Schweikert is unopposed on the Republican side for Congressional District 6. Anita Mali, who works in technology and communications; Garrick McFadden, a lawyer, and Heather Ross, a nurse practitioner, seek the Democratic nomination. The Democratic nominee had not been chosen as of early Wednesday morning.

Who is running for governor in Arizona? Here is what you need to know about everyone running for governor in Arizona this year.

GOP Gov. Doug Ducey is running for re-election. Even though the state has had a Republican governor for 21 of the last 27 years, Ducey faces headwinds in the general election because of energized Democrats and voters who are unhappy with problems in public education. Ducey beat his primary challenger former Arizona secretary of state and Arizona Senate president Ken Bennett.

Army veteran David Garcia beat state lawmaker Steve Farley and Kelly Fryer, former CEO of the YWCA of Southern Arizona for the Democratic nomination.

Ducey will appoint someone to fill McCain's seat until 2020.

Florida

If Arizona is one of the Democrats’ top offensive states this cycle, Florida offers one of the country’s biggest pickup opportunities for Republicans.

On Tuesday, race watchers didn't get any surprises in the Senate race. Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson ran unopposed. On the GOP side, Gov. Rick Scott easily beat a challenge from perennial candidate Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente. President Trump tweeted his support for Scott Monday.

Rep. Ron DeSantis, a hard-line conservative and a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus, beat Adam Putnam, the state’s agriculture commissioner. Establishment Republicans had hoped Putnam pulls off a win because they saw him as having the best chance of carrying the purple state in November.

But Trump had other plans. After he endorsed DeSantis and rallied for him in Florida, polls showed DeSantis ahead. A half-dozen other Republicans were also vying for the nomination, but the race was assumed to be between DeSantis and Putnam.

In a crowded Democratic field, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum beat out other politicians like former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham and former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine, along with others. . Gillum would be the state's first black governor if he were to be elected in November.

If the blue wave hits Florida, there are multiple pick-up opportunities for Democrats in the Sunshine State. Analysts are watching three races closely.

In one of two GOP-held districts won by Hillary Clinton in 2016 – Florida’s 27th – Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen's retirement offers Democrats a chance to flip a seat.

Ros-Lehtinen’s open spot inspired a packed primary on both sides. National Republicans recruited former Univision reporter Maria Elvira Salazar, she beat eight other candidates on the right.

On the Democratic side, Donna Shalala, secretary of Health and Human Services under President Bill Clinton and former president of the University of Miami won against state Rep. David Richardson and additional hopefuls.

In the 26th District, Rep. Carlos Curbelo easily won his primary.

On the Democratic side, retired Navy Cmdr. Demetries Grimes lost to Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a health care advocate.

In District 18, GOP incumbent Rep. Brian Mast made it past two challengers, entrepreneur Dave Cummings and physician Mark Freeman. Both Cummings and Freeman mounted bids after Mast called for a temporary moratorium on assault weapon sales.

Former Obama foreign relations adviser Lauren Baer won the Democratic nomination to go against Mast, she had the support of most national Democrats against Navy veteran and lawyer Pam Keith, who previously ran for U.S. Senate in 2016.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma had its primary back in June, but the state requires a runoff if no candidate gets a majority of the vote. So there will be rematches for a handful of Sooner races.

The GOP nominee for governor was decided Tuesday businessman Kevin Stitt beat former Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett.

If Democrats take back the House, it likely won’t be through Oklahoma, a state that has no Democratic members of its congressional delegation. Race handicappers say no Oklahoma seat is in much danger of turning blue.

But the state does have an open seat in the 1st Congressional District after former Rep. Jim Bridenstine was named director of NASA. Tuesday will cement that matchup. McDonald’s franchiser Kevin Hern beat Tulsa County District Attorney Tim Harris for the GOP spot. Education advocate Amanda Douglas lost to lawyer Tim Gilpin on the Democratic side.

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Contributing: Ledyard King and Herb Jackson in Washington and Yvonne Wingett-Sanchez, Ronald J. Hansen and Richard Ruelas, The Arizona Republic.