Nastiness of primary race(Flake, Cardon) worries Republicans
A bruising Republican primary between former friends and political allies U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake and Mesa investor Wil Cardon is complicating GOP efforts to hold on to the retiring U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl's seat.
Polls show that Flake remains the front-runner, but Cardon's scorched-earth television-advertising campaign has some Republicans concerned that the six-term congressman could emerge as a wounded general-election candidate. Arizona has only about two months between its Aug. 28 primary and the Nov. 6 general election, not a lot of time for a candidate to rehabilitate his image after a grueling primary.
If the squabble results in Arizona electing Democrat Richard Carmona in November, it also could hamper the national Republican strategy to retake the Senate. The party needs to pick up at least four Senate seats while holding all 10 they are defending to guarantee a majority.
The high stakes and negative tone of the race prompted the two top Arizona GOP establishment figures to choose sides, and U.S. Sen. John McCain and Kyl endorsed Flake this month.
Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/politics/articles/2012/07/23/20120723republican-primary-race-worry.html#ixzz221ceHz6V