By Yvonne Wingett Sanchez | Arizona Republic
Defeated for the second time in three years, Sen. Martha McSally delivered her farewell speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate Wednesday, thanking Gov. Doug Ducey for appointing her and sounding like someone who knows her political career is over.
McSally, R-Ariz., thanked her staff and the people of Arizona, whom she represented during her career on Capitol Hill for the past six years.
She choked up at times while recalling her unconventional path to the Senate, the people she’s met along the way, and her decision to publicly discuss in a Senate hearing her experience with sexual assault while serving in the Air Force, where she broke barriers as the nation’s first female combat pilot.
Her decision to share her intimate story, she said, allowed her to offer hope and healing for others.