Sen. John McCain said Wednesday that he’s already begun laying the groundwork for re-election to the Senate in 2016, despite being the “number-one target of the tea partiers.”
“You have to hope for the best and prepare for the worst,” the Arizona Republican told MSNBC when asked whether he was anticipating a tea party challenge. “I definitely think that I would have to absolutely anticipate a tea party candidate or two or three … everybody tells me that I’m the number-one target of the tea partiers.”
Mr. McCain, who will turn 80 in 2016, said his re-election campaign has already begun talking to different groups, “ranging from the Arizona Chamber to the Southern Arizona Defense Alliance to build the coalitions we need to build.”
A McCain re-election run might be good news for Republicans hoping to keep the upper chamber after dominating this year’s midterms. While his supporters think he has enough steam for another term, Mr. McCain said in an interview Friday that it would be “a very, very tough campaign.”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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