Did McCain snub potential rival?

Every GOP House member from Arizona except Rep. Matt Salmon reported receiving a $5,000 campaign donation from the state’s senior senator, Republican John McCain, an analysis by The Hill of new campaign finance reports found.

It was unclear if McCain deliberately snubbed Salmon, or if he gave the check and Salmon decided not to cash it.

{mosads}The mystery of the donation adds a new wrinkle in the complicated relationship between McCain, the powerful chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and Salmon, a Tea Party favorite.

A source close to Salmon says the congressman is “strongly considering” a 2016 primary challenge to McCain, who’s served in the Senate for nearly 30 years and is a top target for anti-establishment conservatives.

But that Salmon source declined to comment about why the congressman did not report any donation from McCain in the first three months of 2015, while the others had.

Both Salmon and McCain crossed paths Thursday afternoon at a think-tank event in the Rayburn House building. But after the event, Salmon said told The Hill he didn’t make anything of the story.

“I’ve always had a really good relationship with everybody in our delegation. I work with both of the senators from our state as well as all the members, both on the Republican and Democrat side,” Salmon said. “I don’t worry about all that other stuff.”

McCain’s leadership political action committee, Country First PAC, gave $5,000 each to Reps. David Schweikert, Martha McSally, Trent Franks and Paul Gosar in the first quarter of 2015, new campaign reports reveal.

In an interview this week, McCain said he typically donates to all Republicans in Arizona’s GOP delegation. “I’ve always supported our House guys,” he told The Hill.

But McCain spokesman Brian Rogers would not say whether McCain had also donated to Salmon.

“Senator McCain has strong relationships with all members of Arizona’s Republican Congressional delegation, including Congressman Salmon, with whom he recently introduced border security legislation,” Rogers wrote in an email.

“Senator McCain supports all Republicans in the Arizona delegation, will work for their reelection, and continues to maintain strong working relationships with all of them,” he added.

Conservative Tea Party groups have been trying to draft Salmon to challenge McCain in 2016, arguing he’d be the strongest candidate to unseat the well-funded, entrenched incumbent.

But Salmon told The Hill this week he hasn’t made up his mind and is still weighing his options.

“I’m not saying that I’m in. I’m not saying that I’m not in,” Salmon said.

In public, things are cordial between the two Arizona lawmakers. McCain, in his remarks at the Rayburn event, called Salmon “outstanding.”

And Salmon started off his remarks by noting how the audience got to hear from “two Arizona boys” in one day “back to back.”

“What an honor to be able to follow the good senator,” Salmon said.

Martin Matishak contributed.

—This story was updated at 4:13 p.m.