by Kevin Kelton

The battle for majority control of the U.S. senate could be tight in November. But the battle may be won in a different election all together. As everyone knows, Sen. John McCain has terminal cancer and will probably not live out his current senate term (which runs to 2023). What many political wonks don’t realize is that the person who could appoint McCain’s replacement will be elected in the Arizona governor’s race this fall.

Current Governor Doug Ducey is a Republican who would likely replace McCain with another Republican if given the chance. But if Arizonans send a Democrat to the statehouse, that equation drastically changes.

Right now Ducey is a favorite to win the state’s August 28th GOP primary, though he is facing a primary challenge from former AZ Secretary of State Ken Bennett.

On the Democratic side, David Garcia, a U.S. Army veteran turned Professor of Education at Arizona State University, is the odds on favorite to win the nomination to challenge the incumbent.

And current polls show that Garcia could give Ducey quite a run for his money. The governor is not all that popular these days, and is even less popular in his own state than President Trump.

And of course the battle for the open seat of retiring senator Jeff Flake will also give Democrats a shot at turning at least one red AZ seat blue next year.

So while resistance-motivated Democrats should do all they can to help elect their local House and Senate candidates, they should consider sending send a small donation to AZDems.org. Their midterm success could go a long way to turning Mitch McConnell from senate majority leader to minority leader very soon.