SE Valley Times

An Arizona senator seeking reelection in November said she stopped aspects of her campaign as COVID-19 continues to spread across the nation and state.

“This is not a time for politics. It is a time for us to remember that we are in this together as Americans, regardless of party or ideology," Republican Sen. Martha McSally said in a campaign statement posted to her Facebook page on March 18.

Her campaign will stop running political television advertisements for at least 30 days, according to the campaign statement.

McSally also asked her door-to-door staffers to focus on helping the elderly and vulnerable populations instead of canvassing.

“I am going to focus 100% of my time on public service and leave campaigning for another day,” McSally said. “Members of Congress and candidates should join me in this call for a national moratorium on ‘us vs. them.’”

McSally was appointed in 2019 to finish the rest of the late Sen. John McCain’s term. She is facing a strong challenge from likely Democratic nominee Mark Kelly, a former astronaut and the husband to former Rep. Gabby Giffords.

Kelly halted certain operations of his campaign on March 12, The Hill reported on March 18, because of COVID-19 guidelines, about a week before McSally’s announcement.

“Last week, our campaign took steps following guidance from the CDC and Arizona public health officials to keep Arizonans and our staff healthy and safe," Kelly campaign spokesperson Jacob Peters told The Hill.

Though McSally won’t directly advertise her campaign on television, according to The Hill report, One Nation will spend $700,000 over two weeks on her behalf. One Nation is affiliated with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

McSally’s seat is considered a “toss-up” heading into the November election, according to Ballotpedia.

McSally and Kelly are safe bets to win their political parties primary on Aug. 4.

“We can all do our part to defeat the coronavirus,” McSally said. “Partisan sniping and political angling won’t get American back to normal any quicker, and in fact will probably make it worse.”