--- title: GOP Chief Says She Wants to Stop Ariz. Senate Hopeful 'Dead' description: Arizona GOP chair targets Mark Kelly, whose wife is former Rep. and mass shooting survivor Gabby Giffords, over his gun control stance canonical: https://time.com/5671083/arizona-gop-mailer-mark-kelly-gun-control/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-09-06T18:59:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T07:19:51.107Z article:section: Politics og:title: State GOP Chief Says She Wants to Stop Arizona Senate Candidate 'Dead in His Tracks' og:description: The stark wording was directed at Mark Kelly, whose wife is former Rep. and mass shooting survivor Gabby Giffords og:url: https://time.com/5671083/arizona-gop-mailer-mark-kelly-gun-control/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2f86a9540b5e5aa1/698a028197cdffb3b76b97db/mark-kelly-arizona-gop-kelli-ward.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: GOP Send Gun Control Mailer Over Mark Kelly og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: State GOP Chief Says She Wants to Stop Arizona Senate Candidate 'Dead in His Tracks' twitter:description: The stark wording was directed at Mark Kelly, whose wife is former Rep. and mass shooting survivor Gabby Giffords twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2f86a9540b5e5aa1/698a028197cdffb3b76b97db/mark-kelly-arizona-gop-kelli-ward.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # In Fundraiser Email, State GOP Chief Says She Wants to Stop Arizona Senate Candidate 'Dead in His Tracks' > Sponsored content. 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Dennis / Bloomberg Contributor Sep 6, 2019 6:59 PM UTC  Former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and her husband, retired NASA Astronaut and Navy Captain Mark Kelly, hold hands as they walk off stage after delivering remarks on the third day of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center, July 27, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and her husband, retired NASA Astronaut and Navy Captain Mark Kelly, hold hands as they walk off stage after delivering remarks on the third day of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center, July 27, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Alex Wong—Getty Images by [Steven T. Dennis / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Steven T. Dennis / Bloomberg Contributor Sep 6, 2019 6:59 PM UTC (Bloomberg) — The chairwoman of the Republican Party in Arizona is trying to raise money by saying the GOP is going to stop pro-gun-control Democratic Senate candidate [Mark Kelly](https://time.com/5528036/mark-kelly-astronauts-politicians/) “dead in his tracks.” The stark wording from Arizona GOP chairman Kelli Ward was directed at former astronaut Kelly, whose wife, former Representative Gabby Giffords, was shot in the head and severely wounded in a mass shooting in 2011 while meeting with constituents. Six people were killed in the attack and more than a dozen others were wounded. The email cites Kelly’s statement in a 2015 CNN interview that “where there are more guns, people are less safe.” “Support the Republican Party of Arizona today and, together, we’ll stop gun-grabber Mark Kelly dead in his tracks,” Ward said. Ward has closely aligned herself with President Donald Trump and has a history of controversial statements. Kelly is running against Senator Martha McSally next year in one of the most competitive Senate races in the country. McSally was appointed to [the seat, long held by the late John McCain](https://time.com/5250551/what-happens-john-mccain-senate-seat/), after losing to Democrat [Kyrsten Sinema](https://time.com/5444385/arizona-senate-kyrsten-sinema-win-midterms/) in the 2018 Senate contest. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5671083/arizona-gop-mailer-mark-kelly-gun-control/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5671083/arizona-gop-mailer-mark-kelly-gun-control/"},"headline":"In Fundraiser Email, State GOP Chief Says She Wants to Stop Arizona Senate Candidate 'Dead in His Tracks'","datePublished":"2019-09-06T18:59:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T07:19:51.107Z","description":"The stark wording was directed at Mark Kelly, whose wife is former Rep. and mass shooting survivor Gabby Giffords","url":"https://time.com/5671083/arizona-gop-mailer-mark-kelly-gun-control/","keywords":["Arizona","politics","Gun Control","2020 Election","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2f86a9540b5e5aa1/698a028197cdffb3b76b97db/mark-kelly-arizona-gop-kelli-ward.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Steven T. 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