kelli ward unsuccessfully ran against sen. john mccain (r-ariz.) this year, losing to the veteran senator by about 13 points in the august primary. | getty by seung min kim 10/27/16 11:59 am edt failed senate hopeful kelli ward is planning another bid to oust an arizona republican next cycle, announcing on her radio show that she plans to challenge sen. jeff flake in a primary during his 2018 reelection bid. ward unsuccessfully ran against john mccain (r-ariz.) this year, losing to the veteran senator by about 13 points in the august primary. but ward reasons that flake is a more ripe target than mccain, the former republican presidential nominee who has served arizona in the senate for five terms. story continued below <u+201c>sen. flake might be semi-well-liked, but he doesn<u+2019>t have the longevity of john mccain, he doesn<u+2019>t have the reach of john mccain, he doesn<u+2019>t have the war hero status of john mccain,<u+201d> ward said on her radio show, <u+201c>the kelli ward connection,<u+201d> as she announced her candidacy. <u+201c>i think it<u+2019>s an excellent opportunity for us.<u+201d> ward also asked her listeners to send in hashtag suggestions for her candidacy, adding that she liked <u+201c>flake the snake<u+201d> in particular. <u+201c>hey, i know i will have a primary and i<u+2019>ve known that all along,<u+201d> flake said in a brief interview with politico on thursday. <u+201c>so, might as well be her.<u+201d> flake added: <u+201c>i<u+2019>ll work hard.<u+201d> it<u+2019>s little surprise that flake is facing a challenge from the right; the 53-year-old known primarily as a fiscal conservative during his house days has morphed into a consummate deal-maker during his first term in the senate. and the senate conservative fund <u+2014> a rabble-rousing group on the right that has worked to oust republican incumbents <u+2014> has already labeled flake as one of its prime targets for 2018, although the group declined to get involved in arizona this year on ward<u+2019>s behalf. by nolan d. mccaskill flake was 1 of 8 senators who wrote a bipartisan immigration reform measure in 2013, and has bucked his party to support president barack obama<u+2019>s policy to normalize relations with cuba while remaining a steadfast supporter of free trade <u+2014> an issue that has become toxic in the year of donald trump. he has also broken somewhat from the senate republicans<u+2019> blockade of supreme court nominee merrick garland, siding with the gop<u+2019>s bid to delay proceedings on his nomination until after nov. 8 but calling on his party to hold confirmation hearings in the lame-duck session. flake has also steadfastly refused to support his party<u+2019>s nominee <u+2014> citing trump<u+2019>s comments toward latinos and his derision of mccain as a war hero, as well as policy proposals such as barring muslim immigrants from the united states. he stresses that he won<u+2019>t vote for democratic nominee hillary clinton, either. by michael grunwald by bill scher by thomas wright by joshua zeitz
kelli ward aims to oust flake in 2018 - politico
seung min kim nolan d. mccaskill michael grunwald