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McSally launches Senate campaign in heated Arizona contest

Posted at 4:39 AM, Jan 12, 2018
and last updated 2018-01-12 23:34:41-05

Arizona Congresswoman Martha McSally is launching her bid for the U.S. Senate on Friday. She becomes the third high-profile Republican to enter the race to replace retiring GOP Sen. Jeff Flake in a state deeply divided by President Donald Trump's agenda.

The Arizona election will showcase the explosive feud between the Republican Party's establishment and its hardline anti-immigration wing -- all in a border state that features the nation's fourth largest Hispanic population.

McSally, a retired Air Force colonel and the first female fighter pilot to fly a combat mission, will fly herself across Arizona Friday in a World War II fighter plane to personally announce her candidacy. Former Sheriff Joe Arpaio, an immigration hardliner, and former state Sen. Kelli Ward, a vocal Trump advocate, are also GOP candidates.