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Megadonor boosts Ward in Arizona Senate race

By ALEX ISENSTADT

Conservative megadonor Robert Mercer has cut a $500,000 check to a super PAC backing Arizona Senate hopeful Kelli Ward, a major cash infusion that comes ahead of the Aug. 28 primary.

Polls have shown Ward, a conservative former state senator, trailing GOP Rep. Martha McSally. Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, an immigration hard-liner, is also running in the primary for the seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Jeff Flake.

Mercer, a reclusive billionaire and a former hedge fund executive, has emerged as a major Ward benefactor. With his latest contribution, he has given KelliPAC a total of $800,000 in support of Ward this election cycle.

Mercer also funded Ward during the 2016 election season, when she waged an unsuccessful primary challenge against Sen. John McCain.

A KelliPAC official said the organization would be using the contribution to bankroll a new TV ad casting McSally, the establishment favorite, as insufficiently conservative and attacking her for refusing to endorse then-candidate Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign.

Mercer and his daughter, Bekah, have been major funders of conservative, anti-establishment causes, including Trump’s 2016 campaign and Breitbart News.

Earlier this year, however, the Mercers had a public falling out with former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon after Bannon criticized the president and his family in “Fire and Fury,” a book about the Trump White House.