The fight for Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)’s seat narrowed this week when a possible challenger said he was “leaning against” challenging McCain in 2016.
Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ) and Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ) have both shown interest in running but also said that only one of them would run. Schweikert told Roll Call “I would say I’m leaning against it. I think that’s fair.”
Schweikert’s comment suggests that Salmon could be the one to actually challenge McCain.
“You’ve gotta make the first decision of, are you willing to throw yourself on the sword?” Schweikert said. “It’s crazy. People seem to get their decision making out of order, and they start trying to decide what their campaign colors are gonna [be] before deciding if they should run a campaign.”
Schweikert said he would decide whether to run or not based on the data on the race.
A strong challenger to McCain would likely get a boost from the Club for Growth. The group’s president, former Rep. David McIntosh (R-IN), said earlier in the week that his conservative grassroots organization would be monitoring the race closely and would strongly consider backing a challenger to McCain.
McCain himself has said he’s “most likely going to run for re-election.”
