Defeated for the second time in three years, Sen. Martha McSally delivered her farewell speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate Wednesday, thanking Gov. Doug Ducey for appointing her and soundinglike someone who knows her political career is over.
McSally, R-Ariz., thanked her staff and the people of Arizona, whom she represented during her career on Capitol Hill for the past six years.
She choked up at times while recalling her unconventional path to the Senate, the people she’s met along the way, and her decision to publicly discuss in a Senate hearing her experience with sexual assault while serving in the Air Force, where she broke barriers as the nation’s first female combat pilot.
Her decision to share her intimate story, she said, allowed her to offer hope and healing for others.
McSally's decision to go to Washington gave her an opportunity to fight for military heroes and their families.
“Accepting the governor's appointment to be a member of the world's most prestigious and powerful governing body was, like most missions in my life, a high-risk, high-purpose endeavor,” she said during her 15-minute remarks. “Becoming a U.S. senator was the ultimate expression of one of my life principles: ‘Do things afraid.’ I took on the mission with my eyes wide open. I gave it my all and I left it all in a field in my fight for the Grand Canyon State.”
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McSally offered her best wishes to Democrat Mark Kelly, who defeated her in Arizona's Nov. 3 special election.
Kelly is expected to be sworn into office in early December, and will serve the remainder of the term initially won by the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who died in 2018 while serving his sixth term.
Ducey eventually appointed McSally to the seat and she will have served in the Senate for a little less than two years.
McSally’s farewell is the bitter bookend to a political career that began with disappointing losses in her bid to represent the Tucson-based 2nd Congressional District after a 2011 massacre left then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., maimed and unable to continue. McSally lost, then won,House races in that district before falling short with Arizona voters in Senate runs in 2018 and 2020.
During her time in the chamber, McSally helped Republicans reshape the federal judiciary and U.S. Supreme Court by voting to confirmconservative judges, passed the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, and helped to pass legislation that aims to prevent military sexual assaults and improve investigations and support to victims.
But it was her votes in the House of Representatives to undo the Affordable Care Act that came under the most scrutiny during her unsuccessful Senate run in 2018, and again this year. Democrats hammered her for those votes and sought to cast doubt on her position of wanting to preserve insurance coverage for those with pre-existing conditions.
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McSally used her final remarks on the floor to note her accomplishments of tying for the most bills signed into law her first year, and leaving the body ranked as the sixth most bipartisan member. In a Washington deeply divided by partisan politics, McSally said she found common ground where she could.
McSally’s staff, along with at least 16 of her Republican and Democratic Senate colleagues, gathered in the small chamber to hear her remarks, which received astanding ovation.
McSally also drew on her personal experiences during his work and travels, from her visits with Navajo Code Talkers to World War II veterans during the 75th anniversary of the D-Day in Normandy, to food bank workers and health care workers she has encountered during the COVID-19 pandemic.
With her departure from politics, McSally said she will spend time, as she does every year, praying and reflecting on the year ahead.
After doing so last year, three words stuck out during her time of reflection. She wrote them on sticky notes and hung them on her bathroom mirror as daily reminders: peace, joyand gratitude.
In the most difficult year in modern history, she said, she has known all three, thanks to God.
“I was honored to serve with each of you in this chamber for such a time as this,” she told her colleagues. “We experience this gift of life and seasons. And while this season is one filled with tumult and challenges, I know we'll get through it, as Americans always do—together.
“When I was appointed to the Senate, I thought of this season in my life and decided if this is the last two years of my life, I want to make it count for others. Today represents a change in seasons for me, and I don't yet have clarity about what my next mission is.
“But I do know who is the author and finisher of my faith, and that he created each of us with purpose.”
She invoked the apostle Paul, saying she has “fought the good fight,” “finished the race,” and “kept the faith.”
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