GRESHAM, Ore. — Arizona Sen. John McCain was in Oregon on Thursday to help rescue Republican Monica Wehby’s U.S. Senate bid.
McCain talked about health care, military spending and veterans issues with Wehby and several dozen supporters at a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall outside Portland. He’ll hold another event with Wehby in Salem and will raise money for her campaign.
Wehby’s run against first-term Democrat Jeff Merkley has been beleaguered by a series of stories from her campaign and personal life, including old police reports showing an ex-husband and former boyfriend had both made harassment complaints against her. She also was accused of plagiarizing her health care and economic plans.
McCain did not mention the controversies but offered an endorsement of Wehby and said she was in “a winnable race.” Wehby, a physician who did work during her training at a Veterans Administration facility in Los Angeles, would be invaluable in the Senate, McCain said.
“This will be the instant expert,” McCain said. “This will be the go-to person in the United States Senate when we’re talking about all the things that need to be done for our veterans.”
Pitching herself in a state dominated by Democrats, Wehby says she’s an independent thinker who won’t be beholden to the Republican Party.
McCain, who ran twice for president and was the Republican Party’s nominee in 2008, was known as a maverick willing to buck the GOP on high-profile issues.
He disavowed the label and tacked to the right under pressure from a tea party challenger during his 2010 re-election campaign, but he’s more recently stood up to the no-compromise wing of his party.
McCain acknowledged that he had “a selfish reason” for helping Wehby, saying her race could prove critical in determining which party controls the Senate. He also slammed Merkley’s effort to change the Senate rules to limit use of the filibuster. Merkley says the filibuster rules contribute to gridlock that paralyzes Congress, but McCain said Merkley greatly diminished the power of the minority party.
“I resent what he did enormously,” McCain said.
