Jan Brewer among past Arizona GOP governors endorsing John McCain

AZ/DC


Dan Nowicki, The Republic | azcentral.com
8:01 a.m. MST July 5, 2016

Republican former Arizona Govs. Jan Brewer, Fife Symington and Jane Dee Hull are endorsing U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who faces a contested GOP primary in his 2016 bid for a sixth Senate term. (Photo: Rob Schumacher/The Republic)


U.S. Sen. John McCain's re-election campaign is getting a boost from three former Republican Arizona governors, including Jan Brewer, now a national campaign surrogate for Donald Trump.
McCain, R-Ariz., is facing three Republican challengers in the state's Aug. 30 GOP Senate primary. On Tuesday, he officially announced the endorsements of Brewer, who was governor from 2009 until 2015; Jane Dee Hull, who was governor from 1997 to 2003; and Fife Symington, who was governor from 1991 to 1997.

Brewer's national reputation among conservatives largely stems from her 2010 decision to sign Senate Bill 1070, Arizona's controversial immigration-enforcement law and a famous 2012 photo in which she wags a finger at President Barack Obama. More recently, she has emerged as a high-profile supporter of Trump, the political-outsider-turned-presumptive-GOP-presidential-nominee who has had a combative relationship with McCain.

"She's a star, isn't she?" McCain said of Brewer's new fame as a Trump advocate. "But, as she has stated many times, she and I have been friends for 30 years. We've worked closely together in the party and when she was governor. We have a close relationship, and I'm very grateful for her support."

In a video endorsement, Brewer praises McCain as "an American hero, an American icon and an Arizona treasure."

"In this time of great instability in our world, I am comforted with the knowledge that John McCain is the chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee," Brewer says. "John McCain knows the cost of war, the sacrifices of lives, loved ones and liberty. John McCain has paid that price, and I trust him with our nation's security."

Hull and McCain once had a rocky relationship.

When McCain made the first of his two runs for president, Hull snubbed him for then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush. In 1999, as the Bush-McCain race was heating up, Hull made a national story out of McCain's temperament by telling the New York Times that she would have to hold the telephone receiver far from her ear when McCain would call her to vent about something.

However, Hull supported McCain during his presidential run in 2008.

"There is only one candidate with the passion, dedication and work ethic we need as Arizona’s U.S. Senator: John McCain," Hull said in a written statement distributed by McCain's campaign. "As a dedicated public servant, John McCain will continue to put Arizonans first and protect our families."


Hull ascended to the Governor's Office from her job as Arizona secretary of state upon the September 1997 resignation of Symington, who had been convicted on multiple federal fraud counts. Symington's conviction subsequently was overturned, and outgoing President Bill Clinton — the husband of this year's presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton — pardoned Symington in 2001, making sure that federal prosecutors could not refile charges against him.

In his statement, Symington said the nation, and the cause of freedom, still need McCain in the Senate.

"History will record John McCain as America's foremost defender of freedom in the early 21st Century," Symington said. "His deep personal courage, his sharp intellect and his unwavering dedication to America have made him so. There is only one John McCain, and he must be returned to the Senate to continue his life's work of service to the people of Arizona."

As he seeks a sixth six-year Senate term, McCain must clear three primary opponents: former state Sen. Kelli Ward of Lake Havasu City and "tea party" activists Alex Meluskey of Scottsdale and Clair Van Steenwyk of Sun City West. If he wins renomination, McCain would face U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz., in the Nov. 8 general election.

"I'm very grateful for the support," McCain said of the three Republican former governors who are backing his re-election.

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