Things aren't looking good for the former military pilot. She's consistently trailing Kelly in the polls. In a New York Times-Siena College poll released on Monday, the former astronaut (and husband of Gabby Giffords) led McSally 50 percent to 39 percent. That's down from September when the poll stood at 50 percent to 42 percent. Kelly has also been outraising McSally.
Since this race is a special election to fill the seat left vacant by the late Sen. John McCain, Arizona law mandates that the winner can be sworn into Senate as early as November 30. That would obviously have massive implications in the Supreme Court nomination process of Amy Coney Barrett if Republicans can't push through the vote before the election. Kelly winning would narrow their path to victory if they decide to continue the vote during Congress's lame-duck session.
Their debate tomorrow is the one major opportunity for both candidates to face off and make their case to the voters. Azcentral.com reports Kelly is expected to blast McSally's record on healthcare, when she voted to undo/roll back/change the Affordable Care Act during her time as an Arizona representative. He's also enlisted the help of Democratic Senator (and McSally's colleague) Kyrsten Sinema in a recent ad. Sinema narrowly beat McSally in the 2019 Senate race:
McSally is expected to highlight her accomplishments in the Senate while drawing attention to Kelly's unsavory (in her opinion) business ties to China. Here's an ad put out by National Republican Senatorial Committee against Kelly:
You can watch the McSally-Kelly debate tomorrow streamed live at 7pm on Azcentral.com.
