Campaign

Salmon tells McCain: I won’t primary you

by Scott Wong - 09/29/15 2:56 PM ET

Conservative Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.) on Tuesday personally informed Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) that he wouldn’t challenge him in next year’s GOP primary, Salmon told The Hill.

“I said, ‘I’m not going to run against you. I’ve done some polling and I think I could do very well, but it would be a bloody campaign, and whoever comes limping out with only 60 days left to face [Democrat] Ann Kirkpatrick could give her the race,’ either way, if he wins or I win,” Salmon said in an interview outside the Capitol.

{mosads}The private meeting, described as “short and sweet,” was held in an office just outside the hearing room of the Senate Armed Services Committee, of which McCain serves as chairman.

“He was very pleasant about everything,” Salmon said.

The Arizona Republic first reported the meeting.

For months, conservative groups such as FreedomWorks have been trying to lure Salmon into the Senate race. These groups say McCain, 79, is insufficiently conservative and has been in Washington too long. The former Vietnam prisoner of war is seeking his sixth six-year term.

But Salmon is discovering a newfound influence in the House. He’s one of nine co-founders of the House Freedom Caucus, the conservative bloc of lawmakers who successfully pressured Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Friday to announce he was resigning from Congress after 25 years.

With Salmon out, state Sen. Kelli Ward remains McCain’s highest-profile primary opponent, but she lacks the name recognition that Salmon has.

Tags Arizona John McCain Matt Salmon