PHOENIX (AP) - The head of the Arizona Republican Party says in a fundraising email that Democratic Senate candidate Mark Kelly will be stopped "dead in his tracks."
The comment by state GOP Chairman Kelli Ward sparked an outcry from Democrats Friday. Kelly became a prominent gun-control advocate after his wife, Gabrielle Giffords, was critically injured in a mass shooting while she was a member of Congress.
Ward's email notes Kelly's advocacy for gun control and urges Republicans to donate to the party to "stop gun-grabber Kelly."
Kelly's campaign spokesman Jacob Peters says "this dangerous rhetoric has absolutely no place in Arizona."
Ward defended her comments on Twitter. She called the criticism "utterly ridiculous" and said she doesn't wish harm on Kelly.
