Martha Elizabeth McSally (born March 22, 1966) is an American politician and former military pilot who represented Arizona in both chambers of Congress between 2015 and 2020. She is the most recent Republican to serve Arizona in the U.S. Senate.
McSally served in the United States Air Force from 1988 to 2010, achieving the rank of colonel. She is the first U.S. woman to fly in combat and also the first to command a fighter squadron. In 2001, McSally successfully sued the United States Department of Defense in McSally v. Rumsfeld, challenging the military policy that required U.S. and UK servicewomen stationed in Saudi Arabia to wear the body-covering abaya when traveling off base in the country.
A member of the Republican Party, McSally ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012, but was unsuccessful. She was elected to the House in 2014 and represented Arizona's 2nd congressional district from 2015 to 2019. McSally was the Republican nominee in Arizona's 2018 U.S. Senate election, losing to Democrat Kyrsten Sinema. After interim Senator Jon Kyl resigned from the state's other Senate seat (to which he had been appointed following the death of longtime Senator John McCain), Governor Doug Ducey appointed McSally to replace Kyl. In 2020, a special election was held to determine who would serve the remainder of McCain's unexpired Senate term; McSally was defeated by Democratic nominee Mark Kelly.
McSally opposes same-sex marriage and opposes abortion in "nearly all cases", and advocates for increased military spending. McSally opposed and voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act and supported the unsuccessful attempt to pass American Health Care Act of 2017. Though criticizing Obama's use of executive action to create it, she supported Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals until 2018 and expressed concern about President Donald Trump's travel ban and the family separation policy.
Early life and education McSally was born in 1966 in Warwick, Rhode Island, the youngest of five children. When she was 12 years of age, her father Bernard died suddenly due to a massive heart attack. Her mother, Eleanor, worked as a reading specialist to support the family.
McSally was the valedictorian at St. Mary Academy – Bay View in 1984. During an interview with The Wall Street Journal in April 2018, McSally alleged her track and field coach pressured her into a sexual relationship during her senior year at the Catholic girls' school. She said that the coach used "emotional manipulation" to keep her compliant. She did not reveal the incident to friends or family until ten years after her graduation.
McSally earned an appointment to the United States Air Force Academy, graduating in 1988 with a Bachelor of Science in biology. She then earned a Master of Public Policy from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and proceeded to pilot training.
Military career
McSally earned her USAF pilot's wings in 1991 after completing Undergraduate Pilot Training at Williams Air Force Base east of Phoenix. Following graduation, she was assigned to Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas, as a First Assignment Instructor Pilot in the T-37 trainer. McSally went on to Lead-in Fighter Training in 1993.
McSally then completed Replacement Training Unit for the A-10 Thunderbolt II at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base and was assigned to an operational A-10 squadron that deployed to Kuwait in January 1995. During this deployment, she flew combat patrol over Iraq in support of Operation Southern Watch, enforcing the no-fly zone over southern Iraq and becoming "the first female U.S. fighter pilot to fly in combat and the first woman to command a fighter squadron."
In 1999, McSally deployed to Europe in support of Operation Allied Force. She was selected as one of seven active-duty Air Force officers for the Legislative Fellowship Program. She lived in Washington, D.C., working as a national security advisor to Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ).
McSally took command of the 354th Fighter Squadron at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base in July 2004. She was subsequently deployed to Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. In 2006, McSally's squadron won the David C. Shilling Award, given by the Air Force Association "for the most outstanding contribution in the field of flight".
Lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Defense McSally was represented by The Rutherford Institute in McSally v. Rumsfeld, a 2001 lawsuit against the Department of Defense, challenging the military policy that required U.S. and U.K. servicewomen stationed in Saudi Arabia to wear the body-covering abaya when traveling off base in the country. At the time of the lawsuit McSally, as a major (O-4), was the highest ranking figher female pilot in the U.S. Air Force. Her suit alleged "the regulations required her to send the message that she believes women are subservient to men." In 1995, while stationed in Kuwait, she was granted an audience with Secretary of Defense William Perry to urge the change to the policy, an extremely rare event for a junior officer in the US military.
In a 60 Minutes interview broadcast on CBS on January 20, 2002, she described the discrimination she experienced under the policy: "I have to sit in the back and at all times I must be escorted by a male ... [who], when questioned, is supposed to claim me as his wife," she said. "I can fly a single-seat aircraft in enemy territory, but [in Saudi Arabia] I can't drive a vehicle. The Department of Defense local policy was derived from guidance given by the US Embassy in Riyadh, following the 1991 Gulf War, to its staff as a measure to avoid harassment by Saudis and help women blend in. This was formalized in a General Order, despite the Department of State policy relaxing and changing over time.
General Tommy Franks, then commander of the United States Central Command, announced in 2002 that U.S. military servicewomen would no longer be required to wear the abaya, although they would be "encouraged" to do so as a show of respect for local customs. Commenting on the change, Central Command spokesman Colonel Rick Thomas said it was not made because of McSally's lawsuit but had already been "under review" before the lawsuit was filed. McSally had been working to change the policy for several years and had filed the lawsuit after she had been threatened with a court martial if she did not comply.
In 2002, Congress passed legislation prohibiting anyone in the military from "requiring or encouraging servicewomen to put on abayas in Saudi Arabia or to use taxpayers' money to buy them." Following her USAF career, McSally has continued to speak out about gender relations in Saudi Arabia.Christina Cheakalos et al., "Dress Blues; Fighter pilot Martha McSally battles to liberate US servicewomen in Saudi Arabia from a confining cloak", People Magazine, February 11, 2002, at pg. 71.Martha McSally "Should our uniform adapt to their culture?" , March 24, 2011.
Retirement After retiring from the U.S. Air Force on May 6, 2010, she worked as a professor at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.McSally, Martha, "Should US uniform adapt to Muslim Culture?", The Washington Post, reprinted in The Japan Times, March 2, 2011, p. 12.
U.S. House of Representatives 2012 elections
On February 9, 2012, McSally announced her candidacy for the special election for Arizona's 8th congressional district vacancy created by the resignation of Gabby Giffords. She was an unsuccessful candidate in the Republican primary for the special election, finishing second to Jesse Kelly.
McSally then ran for and won the Republican nomination in the regular election for the district, which had been renumbered the 2nd district. She faced incumbent Democrat Ron Barber and Libertarian nominee Anthony Powell in the November 2012 election. She was endorsed by the National Federation of Independent Business, the United States Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Wholesalers, and Associated Builders and Contractors.
The race was one of the closest in the nation. McSally led on election night by a few hundred votes, but the race was deemed too close to call due to a large number of provisional ballots. Barber eventually overtook McSally as more ballots were counted. By November 16, most of the outstanding ballots were in heavily Democratic precincts near Tucson. The Arizona Republic determined that McSally would not be able to pick up enough votes to overcome Barber's lead.Nowicki, Dan and Jon D'Anna, "Barber wins hard-fought race against McSally", The Arizona Republic, November 17, 2012. By November 17, Barber's lead had grown to 1,400 votes. That day, the Associated Press determined that there were not enough ballots outstanding for McSally to regain the lead and called the race for Barber."Voters in Arizona's 2nd pick Barber over McSally" , Associated Press via KOLD-TV, November 17, 2012. She conceded the race later that morning.
2014 election
McSally declared her intention of running again for the 2nd district seat in 2014. She won the June 3 primary against two opponents, taking nearly 70% of the vote.2014 Arizona's 2nd District Republican primary results, azsos.gov, June 3, 2014; accessed November 8, 2014. In the November 4 general election, the race was too close to call by the end of election night and eventually became the final federal election of the 2014 cycle to be decided. With 100% of the votes counted, McSally had a 161-vote lead and declared victory on November 12, 2014, but because the margin of victory was less than 1%, an automatic recount was called on December 1.Recount in Barber-McSally race due to 161 margin of victory for McSally , jrn.com; accessed November 14, 2014. On December 17, the official recount declared McSally the winner by 167 votes. She is only the second Republican ever to represent a southern Arizona-based district in the U.S. House of Representatives; the first was Jim Kolbe, who represented what is now the 2nd district, from 1985 to 2007. McSally is also the first female Republican representative from Arizona.
2016 election
McSally ran for reelection in 2016, and was unopposed in the Republican primary. She defeated Democratic opponent Matt Heinz by a margin of 57 to 43 percent in the general election.
Tenure
After she was first elected to the U.S. House, McSally hired C.J. Karamargin, who was formerly the communications director for Democratic U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords, as her district director.
In her freshman term in Congress, McSally had seven bills approved by the U.S. House. Among all members of the U.S. House, McSally was tied for third as of 2016 in the number of bills she had authored that have made it through the House. Her bills were generally "narrowly drawn proposals to improve homeland security or to help veterans."
During her early years in Congress, McSally had a reputation as a political moderate. According to The Arizona Republic, McSally was "one of the most prolific fundraisers among House members not holding a leadership role, while cultivating a reputation as a conscientious and moderate lawmaker."
U.S. Senate Elections
2018
On January 12, 2018, McSally announced her candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by the retirement of U.S. Senator Jeff Flake. McSally announced her campaign in Tucson, then flew to Phoenix and Prescott for subsequent campaign announcement rallies. An online video announcing McSally's campaign featured her telling Washington, D.C., Republicans "to grow a pair of ovaries." The announcement represented a "sharp right turn" from McSally's centrist reputation.