McSally turns down opponent McCarthy’s call for GOP primary debate

Voters in Arizona won’t get a debate between the two candidates in the Republican primary race for the U.S. Senate seat, despite call after call from incumbent Sen. Martha McSally’s challenger.

Glendale businessman Daniel McCarthy has repeatedly challenged McSally, R-Ariz., to debate publicly to highlight the differences between the two before the Aug. 4 primary.

McCarthy said he sought debates through a certified letter, weekly correspondence and social media. He said he even offered $25,000 to the charity of her choice if she would go toe-totoe.

McSally didn’t take him up on the offers.

With early ballots arriving in voters’ mailboxes this week, McCarthy called McSally’s refusal to debate a “blatant act of disregard for the base of the state’s Republican Party.

“It’s the most disgraceful thing I’ve ever seen in Republican party history in Arizona,” McCarthy said. “For her to cheat the public out of that opportunity is really breaking American tradition.”

He added: “She is appointed to that seat. How dare her avoid her primary opponent the way she has. That is the most distasteful, and frankly presumptuous, thing I’ve ever seen.”

A spokeswoman for McSally’s campaign did not respond to The Arizona Republic’s request for comment.

Debate or no debate, McCarthy’s insurgent bid is a reminder of the lingering wariness of McSally among the state’s conservative voters.

In 2017, that wing of the party helped drive Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., into retirement. In the 2018 GOP primary, about 45% of voters backed Kelli Ward or Joe Arpaio over McSally. And in the general election that year, McSally lost by 2.3 percentage points to Democrat Kyrsten Sinema, drawing less support than fellow Republican Gov. Doug Ducey did in every county in the state.

Jessica Taylor, Senate editor for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, said McSally is wise to keep her focus on the general-election race while dispatching of McCarthy with little fanfare.

“To her detriment, really, she had to move further to the right in 2018 and she can’t risk that happening again,” Taylor said. “With her money and name ID, she should really easily win this primary.”

During the 2018 race, McSally did not publicly debate her two primary challengers — Ward, a former state lawmaker, and Arpaio, a former Maricopa County sheriff. Both Ward and Arpaio unsuccessfully challenged McSally to a public debate.

During the one and only fiery general-election debate performance with Sinema, McSally charged that Sinema supported “treason” over years-old remarks.

This cycle, McSally and her campaign for more than a year have been intensely focused on the general-election race against Democrat Mark Kelly, the retired NASA astronaut and guncontrol activist who is faring better than her in polling and fundraising.

They have paid almost no attention to McCarthy, a first-time political candidate who has run chiefly on a platform of supporting President Donald Trump and returning power to voters. But a lot of voters have.

McCarthy built a steady presence connecting with like-minded conservative voters on social media and at Trump’s political rallies. He’s put up provocative signs around the state invoking his stances against abortion and in favor of the Second Amendment.

And McCarthy recently launched radio ads reminding voters of McSally’s 2018 loss and warning voters of potential consequences if Arizona goes “radical blue.”

During a tele-town hall Wednesday night, McCarthy told supporters he represented a return to “Barry Goldwater” conservatism. He touted his campaign’s internal poll numbers and said his goal has been “to fly under the radar and then peak, which is right now.”

Trump endorsed McSally’s Senate bid a year ago and has headlined rallies and other appearances in her support.