John McCain, Debbie Wasserman Schultz face tough primary elections Tuesday

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Voters go to the polls Tuesday in Florida and Arizona, and two powerful incumbents — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) — face unusually strong primary challenges. McCain is expected to survive a long-shot bid to unseat him by State Sen. Kelli Ward (R), but is hoping for a big enough win to assuage doubts about his general election fight against Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, a moderate Democrat with national party backing who is competitive with McCain in the polls. With the volatile electorate, and a GOP base that chose Donald Trump, McCain is expecting a clear win but bracing for a tighter-than-expected result. That has led to talk of this being the fight of his political life, which daughter Meghan McCain shot down on Twitter.

Wasserman Schultz, who stepped down as Democratic National Committee chairwoman amid leaked emails suggesting DNC favoritism for Hillary Clinton over Sen. Bernie Sanders, faces Tim Canova, a law professor endorsed by Sanders. Canova has raised $3.3 million, outpacing Wasserman Schultz. Florida Democrats will also choose between Rep. Patrick Murphy and Rep. Alan Grayson to determine which one faces Sen. Marco Rubio (R), expected to win his GOP primary on Tuesday. Democratic leaders are hoping Murphy wins.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.