(CNN) - After J.D. Hayworth's bid for the Senate in Arizona and Bill McCollum's bid for the governor's mansion in Florida each came to an unsatisfying end, the two candidates offered lukewarm concessions that highlight how divisive each race had become.
McCollum, Florida's attorney general and the GOP establishment's pick who lost to former insurance executive Rick Scott in Florida, conceded the race at almost 1 a.m. via a press release.
"No one could have anticipated the entrance of a multimillionaire with a questionable past who shattered campaign spending records and spent more in four months than has ever been spent in a primary race here in Florida," McCollum said.
"While I was disappointed with the negative tone of the race, I couldn't be more proud of our campaign and our supporters for fighting back against false and misleading advertising when we were down by double-digits," he added.
(CNN) – After months of negative, hard-hitting ads aimed at Tea Party-backed opponent and former Arizona Rep. J.D. Hayworth, Sen. John McCain's campaign has released a new, more positive spot called 'Vital.'
The minute-long ad makes no mention of Hayworth, but focuses instead on McCain's character and major issues such as border security and the economy.
"I can't think of a time in my life when we had bigger more vital issues at stake than today." McCain says, "The rebuilding of our economy, the security of our nation, our border, and the safety of every citizen in Arizona."
(CNN) - At a Tea Party rally Sunday on the U.S.-Mexico border in support of tough immigration laws, Arizona Senate candidate J.D. Hayworth slammed his opponent, Arizona Sen. John McCain, and turned McCain's words back on the veteran senator.
On a ranch in Hereford, Arizona, and with the border fence visible several hundred yards behind him, Hayworth also praised Arizona's new immigration law that was signed by the state's governor, who has spent the last two days campaigning with McCain.
Pulling a word from a McCain letter on immigration which first surfaced in April, Hayworth said it was time to "regularize the status of John McCain," and remove him from office.
Washington (CNN) – Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, the former GOP presidential hopeful running for re-election debuted a new TV ad Friday, but instead of targeting his opponents he focused directly on Washington attacking President Barack Obama.
"President Obama has made protecting our border incredibly difficult," the ad's narrator says. "But, Arizona has a senator with the courage and character to stand up to a president who is wrong: John McCain."
McCain's new ad highlights endorsements from Arizona sheriffs, including Sheriff Paul Babeu of Pinal County, who is a Republican candidate also up for re-election in November.
"A president versus a senator," says Babeu in the ad. "Doesn't seem like a fair fight. Unless that senator is John McCain."
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(CNN) – Sen. John McCain is widely ahead of his two primary challengers, according to a new poll.
A Behavior Research Center survey released Thursday indicates that 64 percent of likely Arizona Republican primary voters support McCain, with19 percent backing former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, five percent supporting Jim Deakin, a Tea Party activist, and 12 percent undecided. The primary is scheduled for August 24.
McCain, the GOP's 2008 presidential nominee, is bidding for a fifth term in the Senate.
(CNN) – Republican J.D. Hayworth is striking back at Sen. John McCain's recent negative TV ads, launching an ad of his own Wednesday declaring that the longtime Arizona senator "should be ashamed" of his actions.
"John McCain is hiding his record behind false attacks on my husband," says Hayworth's wife Mary in the new ad. "John McCain has sold out the people of Arizona on immigration, bailouts, and tax increases.
"Now John McCain has embraced character assassination to keep his job," she also says. "John McCain should be ashamed. J.D.'s not perfect, but he is a principled conservative."
The new ad – the first Hayworth has run – is the latest sign of the increasingly bitter primary fight for the Republican Senate nomination in Arizona.
(CNN) - Arizona Sen. John McCain released two television ads Monday that continue to hammer home his opponent's past ties to a dubious company that aired infomercials promising viewers information about "hundreds of billions of dollars in government funding."
The company – National Grants Conferences – has been criticized by the attorneys general of multiple states for deceptive marketing and has an "F" rating from the Southeast Florida and Caribbean Better Business Bureau.
J.D. Hayworth, a former Arizona congressman, who appeared in one of NGC's infomercials in 2007, didn't shy away from his involvement with the company during an political roundtable broadcast live online last month.
(CNN) – Parts of a 2007 infomercial that features Arizona Senate hopeful J.D. Hayworth are hitting Arizona airwaves today – but this time as part of a McCain campaign ad that slams Hayworth over his involvement with a company called National Grants Conferences.
Hayworth, a radio host and former congressman, recorded the infomercial in 2007. The ad promised free information about "hundreds of billions of dollars in government funding" to individuals who attend a conference on the topic.
But the company behind the meetings – National Grants Conferences – has been criticized by the attorneys general of multiple states for deceptive marketing. A simple internet search brings back legions of complaints about the company.
Hayworth is seen in the spot saying, "Now you may think that what you've heard is too good to be true, but let me assure you, it is real."
Fast forward to 2010, and the McCain ad hitting airwaves statewide Wednesday uses the same language, but this time, a narrator's voice slams Hayworth after he delivers his pitch.
Washington (CNN) – Former congressman J.D. Hayworth has used several ads as part of his bid to oust Sen. John McCain in Arizona's Republican primary. But in 2007, Hayworth was appearing in a different kind of ad: an infomercial that promised billions of dollars in free government grants.
The television ad promises free information about "hundreds of billions of dollars in government funding" to individuals who attend a conference on the topic.
The company behind the meetings – National Grants Conferences – has been criticized by the attorneys general of multiple states for deceptive marketing. A simple internet search brings back legions of complaints about the company.
Hayworth appears in the infomercial as part of a panel discussion on the availability of government grants that don't require repayment. Also on the panel are Mike and Irene Milin, the company's co-founders.
After introducing Hayworth as a former congressman, the infomercial's host says, "Forgive me if I sound like a skeptic, because that is a lot of money. It sounds too good to be true." The host then asks of Hayworth, "Congressman, is it for real?"
"It is for real," Hayworth responds. "Now look, I understand the skepticism in part because President Reagan used to say, 'The greatest contradiction ever uttered is, I'm from the government, and I'm here to help,'" Hayworth added.
(CNN) – Arizona Sen. John McCain launched two ads Tuesday that seek to shine a spotlight on his opponent's past work as a lobbyist.
McCain is locked in a re-election battle with former Arizona Rep. J.D. Hayworth. The two ads - one for television and one for radio - paint Hayworth as a Washington insider that was voted out of office in 2006 because of his ties to lobbyists.
"Hayworth was paid thousands by a Florida corporation to lobby the very committee he used to serve on," the television narrator says. "Outsider? A lobbyist is as inside Washington as it gets."
Brian Rogers, McCain's campaign communications director, took the message a step further by tying Hayworth to disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
"It is stunning that Congressman Hayworth would register as a Washington lobbyist after Arizonans voted him out of office in part because of his close ties to another lobbyist – convicted felon Jack Abramoff, who is currently serving time in federal prison," Rogers said in a statement. Abramoff was transferred Tuesday from prison to a Maryland halfway house to serve the remainder of his sentence.
Both ads will run statewide "for the next couple weeks," according to Rogers. Arizona's primary will be held on August 24.
Read the TV and radio scripts after the jump:
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