Congresswoman Martha McSally is not the proponent of conservatism we hoped she would be when we endorsed her in 2014. Citizens in Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District deserve a true conservative that they should have had all along.
Our mission at Conservative First is to not only identify and promote candidates whom we think best embodies conservative principles, but also to track their progress as conservatives once in elected office and hold them accountable when they stray from the principles they espoused to get elected.
In 2014, Conservative First endorsed retired Air Force Colonel Martha McSally for Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District in the hopes that conservatives in the district would find in Ms. McSally an advocate who could represent them. Unfortunately, after serving three years in the U.S. House of Representatives, Congresswoman Martha McSally is not the proponent of conservatism we hoped she would be. What’s more, she is now seeking the 2018 nomination of the seat being vacated by Senator Jeff Flake. We hope the good people of Arizona do not trade in an establishment moderate for an establishment liberal.
In fact, not only has Rep. McSally failed to be a leader of conservative principles, she has quickly become a reliable vote for Speaker Paul Ryan and the establishment, certainly not what we expected when we endorsed her back in the 2014 election cycle.
While Rep. McSally has not amassed much of a voting record in Congress since her election, there is certainly enough of a record to establish a disturbing trend. Most of her missteps appear to center around her failure to curb the growth of the federal government. Unfortunately, the trend in the country right now is to expand the runaway rate of growth of the government and intrude its inevitable misery into our daily lives, ever-decreasing our individual liberty and freedom. As of now, Rep. McSally is contributing to that trend with little sign of slowing down.
Examples of her voting record since first being sworn into Congress include voting for continuing resolutions, voting against anti-DACA amendments, voting with Speaker Paul Ryan to help bail out Puerto Rico over its debt crisis, voted to reauthorize No Child Left Behind, cast an “aye” vote several times to save the Export-Import Bank which is a classic example of crony capitalism, and voted against defunding Planned Parenthood. Finally, Rep. McSally voted with Speaker Ryan on the $1.1 Trillion Year-End Omnibus Spending Bill in 2015 which we vehemently opposed here at Conservative First. See the trend when it comes to Rep. McSally’s record? She is a solid reliable vote for Speaker Ryan and his establishment cronies.
Consequently, Conservative First is forced to not only withdraw our support from Rep. Martha McSally in her bid to win reelection, but we are placing her on our 2018 U.S. House Target List and calling on a true conservative challenger to emerge in order to provide the citizens of that district the representative they should have had all along.
Congresswoman McSally is at best a non-entity in the House of Representatives. At worst, she represents the type of politician who has contributed to the American people’s cynicism. Martha McSally campaigned as a conservative and attracted the attention of supporters all across the country who were seeking a strong conservative voice to represent Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District. Unfortunately all we seem to have gotten in return is another wolf in sheep’s clothing.
