Republicans seek to replace Flake, distance selves from Trump.
PHOENIX — Arizona voters were nominating candidates Tuesday to replace one of President Donald Trump’s fiercest critics in the Senate, a primary contest amid increasing political change in a closely watched political battleground.
The weekend death of Sen. John McCain, who represented Arizona for six decades, means both of the state’s Senate seats will change hands by year’s end.
Tuesday’s primary contest was for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Jeff Flake, whose opposition to Trump badly hurt his standing with the conservative Republican voters who dominate Arizona’s GOP primaries. The state’s governor will name a replacement to fill McCain’s seat.
The three Republicans competing Tuesday embraced Trump and distanced themselves from McCain, including establishment favorite Rep. Martha McSally.
Among those on the Arizona ballot were former state Sen. Kelli Ward, who tried unsuccessfully to unseat McCain in 2016, and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. When McCain’s family said last week that he was discontinuing medical treatment, Ward speculated in a laterdeleted Facebook post that the announcement was intended to hurt her campaign for Flake’s seat.
Ward apologized Monday.
Meanwhile, several locations opened hours behind schedule because voting machines had not been set up on time. The office of Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes said 62 polling places didn’t open on time, but all were operating by 11:30 a.m.
The county has about 750 locations. No voting machine problems were reported in other parts of the state.
Arizona was one of three states holding elections Tuesday.
The primaries in both Arizona and Florida were closely watched for signs of how the political battlegrounds might tilt in the 2020 presidential election.
In Oklahoma: GOP voters in reliably Republican Oklahoma backed mortgage company owner Kevin Stitt in a runoff for the gubernatorial nomination. The 45year-old owner of Gateway Mortgage Group defeated former Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett and advances to face Democrat Drew Edmondson and the winner of the Libertarian runoff in November.
Two-term Republican Gov. Mary Fallin couldn’t run again because of term limits.
Stitt won in part by criticizing his opponent as insufficiently supportive of Trump. Stitt also embraced his standing as a political outsider.