After death in Iowa, Ward faults senators
Kelli Ward said Tuesday that U.S. Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake’s lack of “leadership” and “courage” was partly to blame for the death of an Iowa girl who authorities say was killed by an undocumented immigrant.
At the same time, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate hit her front-running Republican primary opponent, U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, calling her an “amnesty advocate.”
On Twitter, Ward, a former state senator from Lake Havasu City, linked to a Fox News story about Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts, who disappeared on July 18 while jogging. Cristhian Bahena Rivera, an undocumented immigrant and Mexican national who lived in Iowa told police he killed her in a panic after she tried to call for help, court records say.
Ward tweeted: “The lack of leadership & courage by open border senators like (Arizona Republicans Flake and McCain) amnesty advocate Martha McSally contribute to these senseless deaths. We need true leadership in the Senate to #BuildTheWall & secure our borders!”
She encouraged followers to vote for her in the Aug. 28 primary.
A spokeswoman for McSally’s campaign said she would not “dignify” Ward’s comment with a response.
The Republican Senate candidates are in a three-way primary race that also includes former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, another border hard-liner. The primary election is Aug. 28.
Like President Donald Trump did as a candidate in 2016, Ward has largely campaigned on her views of stringent, enforcement-focused proposals to crack down illegal immigration in her bid for the Republican nomination. She routinely lashes out against McCain — who handily defeated her in his 2016 primary — and Flake, the retiring Republican incumbent.
For years, the senators have advocated for comprehensive immigration reform and in 2013 collaborated with Democrats as part of the Gang of Eight. The group’s legislation sought to balance a pathway to citizenship for millions of people without legal status who had settled in the United States with an unprecedented investment in border security and a modernized visa system. The bipartisan bill cleared the Senate, but the House didn’t act on it.
On border security and illegal immigration, Ward’s ideas echo the proposals that propelled Trump to the White House in 2016 with the help of Arizona. Yet polling suggests she is lagging behind McSally in the Senate race.
The winner of Tuesday’s Republican primary election will face the Democratic nominee. U.S. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema is the front-runner against activist and attorney Deedra Abboud.