Martha McSally

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Martha McSally (2015)

Martha McSally (born March 22, 1966 in Warwick , Rhode Island ) is an American politician of the Republican Party . In 2019 she was appointed to the seat of the late John McCain as Interim Senator for Arizona , after losing to Democrat Kyrsten Sinema in the 2018 Senate election and previous interim Senator Jon Kyl resigning . From 2015 to 2019 she represented Arizona's 2nd Congressional District in the US House of Representatives .

Family, education and work

Martha McSally attended St. Mary Academy on Riverside . In 1988 she graduated from the United States Air Force Academy and then the Harvard Kennedy School . She then served as a pilot in the United States Air Force until 2010 . She rose to the rank of colonel . She was the first woman in the American Air Force to fly a military combat mission. Their mission device was the Fairchild Republic A-10 . While stationed in Saudi Arabia , she successfully sued a US Department of Defense dress code that required female military personnel in Saudi Arabia to wear the abaya . In March 2019, McSally made public that she had been raped while on duty in what Die Welt described as the entry of the MeToo debate into the US military. After retiring from military service, McSally worked for some time as a lecturer at the George C. Marshall Center in Garmisch-Partenkirchen .

Political career

Member of the US House of Representatives

In 2012, McSally ran unsuccessfully in her party's primary election in a by-election for Arizona's 8th Congressional constituency . In the 2014 election she was elected to the US House of Representatives in the 2nd congressional electoral district there. In doing so, she beat the mandate holder Ron Barber of the Democratic Party with 49.81 to 49.73 percent of the vote (109,704 against Barbers 109,543). On January 3, 2015, she took up her mandate in Congress . She also won the 2016 election . In the 2018 House election, McSally would have met former Democratic Congressman Ann Kirkpatrick , but did not run again, so she was eliminated on January 3, 2019.

Candidate for the US Senate

McSally announced in early November 2017 that instead of running for re-election in the Republican primary , he was running for the November 2018 Senate seat , which Jeff Flake gave up. McSally was considered the favorite of the party leadership and financier in Arizona, but had been noticed several times by criticizing President Donald Trump . Right-wing rival Kelli Ward received tweets of approval from Trump and $ 300,000 in support from Robert Mercer , a Trump financier. Steve Bannon , the former Trump adviser, announced that he would campaign against McSally to prevent this "anti-Trump candidate". The conservative organizations Club for Growth and FreedomWorks also rejected McSally. Nevertheless, McSally, who had come closer to Trump in the election campaign, prevailed in the primary on August 28, 2018 with 52.9 percent of the vote.

In the main election on November 6, 2018, McSally faced the moderate Democrat Kyrsten Sinema . The election that gave Arizona its first female senator was seen as completely open. After McSally was in the lead on election night, she fell behind during the count and conceded her defeat on November 12 with a deficit of about 38,000 votes (48.0 to 49.7 percent).

Appointed US Senator

McSally was appointed by Governor Doug Ducey on December 18, 2018 , to serve as Interim Senator from the late Senator John McCain . The previously appointed Jon Kyl , who had held McCain's seat from September 2018, left the Senate at his own request in late 2018. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell had campaigned for McSally, who is considered controversial by several groups because of her electoral defeat, her moderate positions and comments about McCain during his fatal illness. McSally was sworn in on January 3, 2019 and represents Arizona in the Senate with Sinema.

For the 2020 Senate election , McSally will run in the by-election for the remaining two years of McCain's mandate. In the Republican primary, businessman Daniel McCarthy competes against her, accusing her of not being conservative enough and not loyal enough to President Trump. The favorite for the Democratic nomination is former astronaut Mark Kelly , husband of Gabrielle Giffords , who previously held McSally's congressional mandate until 2011.

Web links

Commons : Martha McSally  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hannes Stein: "I felt that the system was raping me again". In: Welt Online , March 10, 2019.
  2. ↑ Ronald J. Hansen: Rep. Martha McSally tells House colleagues she is running for Senate. In: AZCentral.com , November 7, 2017.
  3. ^ Allan Smith: The GOP establishment is rallying around a new frontrunner to replace Jeff Flake - but she's been repeatedly critical of Trump. In: Business Insider , November 7, 2017.
  4. ^ Arizona Primary Election Results. In: The New York Times , August 29, 2018; Christopher Bates: Elections Were Held, People Voted. In: Electoral Vote , August 29, 2018.
  5. ↑ Simon Romero: Kyrsten Sinema Declared Winner in the Arizona Senate Race. In: The New York Times , November 12, 2018
  6. ↑ Rachel Leingang: Martha McSally concedes to Kyrsten Sinema after 'hard-fought battle'. In: Arizona Republic , November 12, 2018.
  7. ^ Devan Cole, John King: McConnell is lobbying Arizona's governor to name McSally as Kyl replacement. In: CNN.com , November 19, 2018
  8. ↑ Yvonne Wingett Sanchez: seat Martha McSally appointed to John McCain's Senate. In: Arizona Republic , December 18, 2018.
  9. ↑ Yvonne Wingett Sanchez: Sen. Martha McSally gets primary challenge from businessman Daniel McCarthy. In: The Arizona Republic , August 28, 2019.
personal data
SURNAME McSally, Martha
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American Republican Party politician
DATE OF BIRTH March 22, 1966
PLACE OF BIRTH Warwick , Rhode Island