By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services via Arizona Daily Star
Gubernatorial candidate Ken Bennett is using the question of who would replace John McCain to round up votes and raise money for his gubernatorial campaign.
In an email Friday, the former secretary of state doubled-down on his earlier vow not to appoint Cindy McCain to fill any vacancy. And he said those who share his viewpoint should donate $5, a bid to get at least 4,000 of those small donations to qualify for $839,704 in public funding for the GOP primary.
“U.S. Senate seats are not family heirlooms,” Bennett said in an interview with Capitol Media Services. “When people vote for an elected official, that does not mean that they are voting for their spouse to take over their position if something happens to them.”
But Bennett also conceded that part of his decision to air his views on the potential of a Sen. Cindy McCain — assuming he ever gets to be in a position to name a replacement for her husband — is strictly political. And that includes tapping into Republican voters who are not fans of McCain in his effort to deny incumbent Doug Ducey the GOP nomination.
