TEMPE, Arizona (CNN) Republican Senate candidate Kelli Ward apologized Monday for suggesting an announcement by Sen. John McCain's family that he would end his cancer treatment was designed to hurt her campaign, saying her comment had been misinterpreted. 
 
 "I do understand how many could have misconstrued my comments as insensitive, and for this I apologize," Ward told reporters at her campaign headquarters. "The intention of my comments were in no way directed at Sen. McCain or his family." 
 
 In a Facebook post over the weekend -- following the McCain family's announcement, but before his death -- one of Ward's campaign staffers speculated that the timing might have been designed "to take media attention off her campaign." Ward seemed to agree, writing in response, "I think they wanted to have a particular narrative that they hope is negative to me." 
 
 Reading from a written statement Monday, Ward said she hoped to "set the record straight" regarding her comment, which has sparked backlash in the final stretch of her primary campaign. On Tuesday, she will face off against Rep. Martha McSally, the front-runner, and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio for the Republican nomination in the race to succeed Sen. Jeff Flake. 
 
 "To be clear, my comments were in no way directed at Sen. McCain or at his family or his team," she said, adding that they were "in reference to the media" and its "hope for a narrative that would hinder the momentum of our campaign." 
 
 Read More ||||| FILE - In this May 2, 2018 file photo, Arizona Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kelli Ward speaks to the media as she prepares to file her nominating petitions at the state Capitol in Phoenix. Ward, running... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this May 2, 2018 file photo, Arizona Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kelli Ward speaks to the media as she prepares to file her nominating petitions at the state Capitol in Phoenix. Ward, running for her party's nomination for an open Senate seat, suggested the announcement that McCain was... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this May 2, 2018 file photo, Arizona Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kelli Ward speaks to the media as she prepares to file her nominating petitions at the state Capitol in Phoenix. Ward, running for her party's nomination for an open Senate seat, suggested the announcement that McCain was... (Associated Press) FILE - In this May 2, 2018 file photo, Arizona Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kelli Ward speaks to the media as she prepares to file her nominating petitions at the state Capitol in Phoenix. Ward, running... (Associated Press) 
 
 PHOENIX (AP) — Hours before Sen. John McCain died on Saturday, a Republican seeking Arizona's other U.S. Senate seat suggested that his family's earlier announcement that he was ending cancer treatment had been timed to hurt her campaign. 
 
 Former State Sen. Kelli Ward, who lost a primary to McCain running from the right in 2016 and is now trying to win the GOP nomination for retiring Sen. Jeff Flake's seat, made the suggestion in response to a Facebook post by a campaign aide. 
 
 According to screenshots of the conversation posted on Twitter by Arizona political reporters, the aide, Jonathan Williams, wondered if it was "just a coincidence" that the announcement of McCain ending medical treatment came the day Ward was launching a statewide bus tour, her big push before Tuesday's primary. 
 
 Ward replied: "I think they wanted to have a particular narrative that is negative to me." 
 
 After her response was Tweeted out, Ward deleted the post and replaced it with one claiming the media was concocting a story. 
 
 "I've said again and again to pray for Senator McCain & his family," Ward wrote. "These decisions are terrible to have to make. I feel compassion for him and his family as they go through this." 
 
 Ward has acknowledged she is the underdog in Tuesday's primary. She faces Rep. Martha McSally and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. 
 
 A message left with Ward's campaign office on Sunday morning was not immediately returned.
– An Arizona candidate for US Senate who came under fire after suggesting that John McCain's announcement he'd be withdrawing from cancer treatment was timed to damage her campaign has apologized. "I do understand how many could have misconstrued my comments as insensitive, and for this I apologize," Ward told reporters, per CNN. "The intention of my comments were in no way directed at Sen. McCain or his family." McCain died of brain cancer Saturday. In the hours before, Ward's aide, Jonathan Williams, mused on Facebook about whether it was "just a coincidence" the announcement of McCain ending treatment came the day Ward launched a statewide bus tour, per the AP. In response to Williams' message, Ward wrote: "I think they wanted to have a particular narrative that is negative to me." Ward told reporters Monday that those comments were in reference to "the media" and not to McCain. Ward faces Rep. Martha McSally and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Tuesday's primary, in which she's regarded as the underdog in the Republican race to replace outgoing Sen. Jeff Flake. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey says he plans to announce his pick to replace McCain sometime after the senator's funeral services.