No Senate run in the cards for Arizona Governor Ducey

(KYMA, KECY/ AP News) - Arizona governor Doug Ducey has notified Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell that he will not enter his state’s high-profile Senate contest, a disappointing development for establishment Republicans.

Many Republican leaders saw Ducey as their best hope to defeat Democratic Senator Mark Kelly this fall.

Ducey, who is barred by term limits from seeking a third term as governor, also notified donors of his decision in a letter.

While Ducey’s move is a big disappointment for McConnell and others, it comes as good news for former President Donald Trump, a fierce critic of the governor. Trump has lashed out at Ducey repeatedly for refusing to support Trump surrounding fraud in the 2020 election

As head of the Republican Governors Association, he maintains strong ties to donors and influential Republican officeholders who favored and were drawn his traditional conservative focus on low taxes, limited regulation and school choice.

Arizona Republicans now look to an early August primary election to pick a nominee from a field of five leading candidates: Attorney General Mark Brnovich; businessman Blake Masters, who has aggressively courted Trump’s endorsement; Mick McGuire, former head of the Arizona National Guard; businessman Jim Lamon; and Justin Olson, a member of the state utility commission.

None have yet emerged as a front runner.