Martha McSally speaks at a rally for President Donald Trump in October 2018, during the final weeks of her campaign for the U.S. Senate. McSally, a Republican, lost to Democrat Kyrsten Sinema.
/Photo by Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 2.0
By Robin Bravender | Arizona Mirror
Sen. Martha McSally, who’s in one of the most hotly contested Senate races in the country, is encouraging outside groups to run ads defending her position on health care, according to audio obtained by the Arizona Mirror.
During a December conversation with Republicans in Legislative District 11, McSally expressed frustration with a barrage of ads against her and insisted she wants to protect health care for people with pre-existing conditions. Her comments came as polls show she’ll likely face a tight race against retired astronaut Mark Kelly, the presumptive Democratic nominee for the Senate seat.
“Look, the attack ads are a lie,” she said when asked whether she supports people with pre-existing conditions getting access to health insurance. The ads have assailed her vote opposingan effort to overturn a Trump administration policy that allows states to ignore certain requirements of the Obama administration’s Affordable Care Act.
McSally said at the GOP gathering, “We don’t have the resources to fight. If I went up on TV right now, my campaign coffers would be empty. If we’re going to fight back with a TV ad, it’s going to cost us millions of dollars.”
Kelly has outraised McSally so far in his bid to unseat her. The next round of fundraising reports is due to be released later this month.
