John McCain, Debbie Wasserman Schultz face tough primary elections Tuesday

John McCain faces a tough primary fight
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Voters go to the polls Tuesday in Florida and Arizona, and two powerful incumbents — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) — face unusually strong primary challenges. McCain is expected to survive a long-shot bid to unseat him by State Sen. Kelli Ward (R), but is hoping for a big enough win to assuage doubts about his general election fight against Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, a moderate Democrat with national party backing who is competitive with McCain in the polls. With the volatile electorate, and a GOP base that chose Donald Trump, McCain is expecting a clear win but bracing for a tighter-than-expected result. That has led to talk of this being the fight of his political life, which daughter Meghan McCain shot down on Twitter.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.