McCain will skip GOP convention to campaign for reelection

Senator John McCain will not attend the GOP’s convention this summer. Instead he plans to use the time to campaign for reelection. Politico reports:

“I have to campaign for reelection, and I have always done that when I’m up,” McCain said. “We have a late primary in Arizona.”

Though the GOP convention is scheduled for July 18-21, the Arizona lawmaker also faces an Aug. 30 primary against state Sen. Kelli Ward and business owner Alex Meluskey.

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McCain’s real problem is his likely Democratic opponent Ann Kirkpatrick. Though polling is sparse, the RCP average suggests the head-to-head match-up is currently a dead heat.

The GOP is facing a tough map in 2016. It needs to defend 24 seats while Democrats only need to defend ten. In order to win the majority, Democrats only need to flip 4 seats if Clinton wins the White House or five if a GOP candidate wins. CNN reports the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) is planning to spend nearly $40 million on adds in a few key races to sway the outcome:

According to a source with knowledge of the ad buy, the DSCC is reserving $10 million in air time to target the state’s open Senate seat in Florida, which Sen. Marco Rubio is vacating. The campaign committee is dropping another $10 million in Ohio, in a battle where former Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland is locked in a tight contest with GOP Sen. Rob Portman.

The group plans to bolster the candidacy of Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan in New Hampshire, with $8 million in the race to unseat GOP Sen. Kelly Ayotte. And the DSCC plans to drop another $5 million to defend two seats — Colorado, where Sen. Michael Bennet is up for re-election, and $4 million in the race for the Nevada seat being vacated by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid.

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Kelly Ayotte, who is on the DSCC’s list of targeted seats has also stated she will not attend the GOP convention in order to focus on her campaign.

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