McCain faces serious primary challenge for Senate bid
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Filed Under:
Politics
Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) and former Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-Arizona), in various National Congress of American Indians appearances. Photos © Indianz.Com
For the first time since joining the
U.S. Senate in 1987,
Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) is facing a strong primary challenger in former Congressman
J.D. Hayworth (R-Arizona).
Polls show McCain, a two-term chairman of the
Senate Indian Affairs Committee, in a virtual tie against Hayworth, who was one of the strongest proponents of tribal sovereignty when he served in the
U.S. House.
So McCain is taking a hard stance against Hayworth, who canceled his radio program in light of
Federal Election Commission complaints filed by McCain's allies.
"I'm not saying he couldn't say anything he wanted to, but it's clear that was a political campaign he was running on the radio station," McCain told The Wall Street Journal.
McCain supporters previously commissioned a poll that linked Hayworth to the
Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. And now McCain is calling on
Sarah Palin, the popular former governor of Alaska who was his vice presidential running mate in 2008, to help him campaign in Arizona.
"Anybody who doesn't take J.D.'s race against McCain seriously is crazy," Bruce Merrill, a professor emeritus at
Arizona State University, told the Journal.
Get the Story:
McCain Feeling Primary Heat From His Right Flank
(The Wall Street Journal 2/4)
Related Stories:
Republican poll ties Hayworth to Abramoff scandal
(12/15)
Opinion: McCain faces big
challenger in Hayworth (11/24)
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