TUCSON, Ariz. - Senator Jeff Flake's decision not to run for re-election has led to a rare, open Senate seat at a time when the split between Democrats and Republicans has been so close control of the Senate hangs in the balance.
It's Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema for the Democrats vs Congresswoman Martha McSally for the Republicans.
When Martha McSally met with small business owners concerns about affordable health care were a dominant topic.
The Senate campaign has been full of charges and counter-charges over who's telling the truth about their stands on health policy.
McSally says she wants to replace Obamacare with health insurance protection that offers more choices at lower cost.
“So we need a different model. We must protect people with pre-existing conditions, they cannot be denied coverage. Do not believe the lies of the attack ads on TV; I voted for I fought for it. I advocated to make sure that insurance companies cannot deny anybody with pre-existing conditions. This touches every single family, we all know somebody or everyone themselves has some sort of, you know, someone they love, who either is a cancer survivor, or they just got the phone call with a diagnosis or they've got asthma or diabetes. So we have to make sure that they're protected.”
McSally says she wants to give insurance companies flexibility to offer coverage across state lines, and for business associations to offer coverage pools so small businesses can have the same leverage to bargain for better deals that large companies do.
McSally often mentions her career as an Air Force officer and the first woman to fly a fighter in combat. She says that gives her a special understanding of the value of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and Fort Huachuca to the nation's security and the local economy.
In the House, she chairs a border security subcommittee. She wants to invest in a border wall, improved sensors, more border patrol agents and better intelligence gathering.
McSally is calling for better systems to deal with the issues that separated adults and children who came to the border and asked for asylum.
“So every single day, we're just having people show up, say the right word, show up with a kid, disappear into the interior of the United States never to show up for their court date. That doesn't make any sense. That's not compassionate for the people who are filing asylum who are taking years now to have their case made. So my bill closes those loopholes allows a swifter process of adjudication for asylum claims and allows us to enforce the law while keeping families together. And that's the way we need to move forward."
If elected to the Senate McSally hopes to continue the bipartisan approach that helped her pass bills in the House. But she calls the Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Brett Kavanaugh an example of scorched earth politics.
“Look, as someone who shared recently publicly, you know, that I myself am a survivor of sexual abuse and sexual assault, we need to take those allegations very seriously. But what happened in this process where I really truly believe, you know, Dr. Ford was also taken advantage of, but the Democrats had a goal of taking down the Supreme Court nominee, no matter what, at whatever cost."
Now it's up to Arizonans to decide between Martha McSally or Kyrsten Sinema.
