page_title: Martha McSally
section_title: 2018 election
hierarchical_section_title: Martha McSally / U.S. Senate / 2018 election
caption_attribution_description: U.S. Congresswoman Martha McSally speaking with supporters of President of the United States Donald Trump at a Make America Great Again campaign rally at International Air Response Hangar at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport in Mesa, Arizona. Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere.
context_page_description: Martha Elizabeth McSally is an American politician serving as the junior United States Senator for Arizona since 2019. A Republican, she served as the U.S. Representative for Arizona's 2nd congressional district from 2015 to 2019. McSally served in the United States Air Force from 1988 to 2010, achieving the rank of Colonel. She was the first U.S. woman to fly in combat and the first to command a fighter squadron.
  In 2001 McSally successfully sued the United States Department of Defense in McSally v. Rumsfeld, challenging the military policy that required U.S. and U.K. servicewomen stationed in Saudi Arabia to wear the body-covering abaya when traveling off base in the country.
  Following an unsuccessful bid in 2012, McSally was elected to the House of Representatives in 2014. She served two terms as the U.S. Representative for Arizona's 2nd congressional district. McSally was the Republican nominee in Arizona's 2018 U.S. Senate election and lost to Democrat Kyrsten Sinema. Following that election, interim U.S. Senator Jon Kyl resigned from the state's other Senate seat, and Governor Doug Ducey appointed McSally to succeed Kyl.
context_section_description: On January 12, 2018, McSally announced her candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by the retirement of U.S. Senator Jeff Flake. McSally announced her campaign in Tucson, then flew to Phoenix and Prescott for subsequent campaign announcement rallies. An online video announcing McSally's campaign featured her telling Washington, D.C. Republicans "to grow a pair of ovaries." The announcement represented a "sharp right turn" from McSally's centrist reputation.
  McSally was expected to run as the establishment candidate in the Republican primary, where her opponents included former State Senator Kelli Ward and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. McSally, a strong fundraiser, was the preferred candidate of national Republicans and Arizona Governor Doug Ducey. McSally's history of criticizing President Donald Trump drew rebuke from conservative groups including the Club for Growth, the Senate Conservatives Fund, and FreedomWorks. McSally had previously distanced herself from Trump, choosing not to endorse him in 2016 and calling his comments about sexual assault "disgusting" and "unacceptable." But in the lead-up to announcing her candidacy for Senate, McSally began to embrace Trump, running ads echoing his conservative immigration policy positions. Politico wrote: "Martha McSally wants to make one thing clear before she launches an Arizona Senate campaign: She's a big fan of President Donald Trump."
  In an August 2018 candidate forum hosted by the Arizona Republic in advance of the Republican U.S. Senate primary, McSally and opponent Kelli Ward both said they were unconcerned with Trump's personal character, viewing it as a nonissue in the race. McSally criticized what she said was the media's and Democrats' "obsession" with Trump's character.
  McSally won the August 28 Republican primary with 53 percent of the vote and faced Democratic nominee Kyrsten Sinema in the November general election. The general election remained undecided for several days after election night until all ballots were counted in the close contest. McSally held a lead by the end of election night, but it narrowed over the next few days as more ballots were counted. During this time, both McSally and Sinema voiced support for counting all the ballots. There was no evidence of any fraud. On November 12, McSally conceded to Sinema, congratulating her on becoming Arizona's first female Senator. Sinema won by almost 56,000 votes.
caption: McSally speaking at a rally hosted by President Donald Trump in October 2018.
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