Billionaire
investor and top GOP donor Paul Singer has long promoted McSally, pouring
hundreds of thousands of dollars into her campaigns through his investment firm
and political groups, including Winning for Women.
Singer — an
aggressive anti-Trumper— was also behind funding for
Fusion GPS, the research firm that produced the salacious dossier concerning
alleged ties between Trump's campaign and Russia. The Washington Free Beacon, a
conservative online news outlet funded by Singer,
paid the firm to dig up dirt on multiple candidates, including Trump, during
the 2016 primary elections.
Republican Rep. Martha
McSally of Arizona is likely the strongest candidate to run against a centrist
Democrat in the contest for retiring Sen. Jeff Flake's seat.
But McSally, the
establishment favorite, was critical of Trump until she announced her candidacy
and has long been bankrolled by Never Trumpers.
Her flip-flop on Trump
and tack to the right on policy reflect the complicated politics of the GOP in
2018.
Republican
Rep. Martha McSally of Arizona could play a key role in preventing a Democratic
takeover of the Senate in November.
The
former Air Force fighter pilot is leading in the polls (and
in fundraising)
against her two GOP primary opponents in the race to replace retiring GOP Sen.
Jeff Flake, whose sustained criticism of the president made his reelection
likely impossible.
But
McSally has taken tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from
prominent Never Trumpers and has a long history of criticizing the president,
whom she refused to endorse in 2016.
Even as
she has embraced Trump and moved right on key policy issues — most
notably immigration—
since announcing her candidacy, the sources of McSally's campaign cash reflect
the complicated nature of this purple state battle.
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