Sinema raises funds by criticizing McSally’s Senate race

Kyrsten Sinema, Arizona’s Democratic senator who beat her Republican rival turned seat mate Martha McSally last year, is not staying out of McSally’s 2020 race.

Sinema’s campaign blasted out a fundraising email last week telegraphing her desire that the state’s other Senate seat be won by “someone who shares our values.”

The email doesn’t name names, but it’s widely known that Sinema does not see eye-to-eye with McSally, who is running in the state’s 2020 special election.

“Arizona is poised to be the primary battleground for control of the Senate AGAIN,” the Sinema email says. “We need to immediately reignite the grassroots movement we build (built) last year to ensure that Arizona’s junior Senate seat goes to someone who shares our values.”

Sinema’s campaign has “launched a Battleground Arizona Fund to ensure we have the resources to keep building our movement heading into 2020,” the email says.

Though McSally lost the 2018 race to Sinema, she was appointed to the seat long held by the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. To hold onto it, McSally must win the special election in 2020. She appears poised to face-off against retired astronaut Mark Kelly, whose fundraising about doubled McSally’s during the first quarter.

A spokesperson for Sinema’s campaign declined on Monday to talk about the fundraising email and her potential plans for 2020. A spokeswoman for McSally declined to comment. A spokesman for Kelly did not respond to The Arizona Republic’s request.