Millennial Republicans demand apology from Kelli Ward

Some Millennial Republican activists are demanding that U.S. Senate primary challenger Kelli Ward apologize for remarks dismissing young campaign volunteers for incumbent U.S. Sen. John McCain as "kids" who "have no idea" about his record but who are "enticed by the glimmer of celebrity."

Ward, a former state senator from Lake Havasu City, made the remarks in the studio of Tucson radio station KNST-AM (790). Her appearance was broadcast via the Periscope smartphone app and her comments about who she characterized as the "McCain kids" were uploaded to YouTube.com.

"As a candidate for the U.S. Senate, we believe that you should use better judgment before engaging in derogatory conversations about young Republican activists," four young GOP activists wrote. "We collectively work hard everyday to bring young people into our party, and we believe your actions are not helping our cause. We the undersigned request that you formally apologize and commit to helping us bring more,
not less, young Republican activists to our party."

The letter was from Lilia Dashevsky, former Arizona Teenage Republicans state chairman; Ashley Heerding, Students for Rubio state chairman and the 2015 "Outstanding Teenage Republican in the Nation"; Shay Khatiri, Alexander Hamilton Society president and Arizona State University College Republicans treasurer; and Caleb Rhodes, former University of Arizona College Republicans president.

Dashevsky on Friday confirmed the letter's authenticity and said it had been sent to Ward's campaign and personal email addresses, but they hadn't heard back from her.

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Neither Ward nor her campaign responded to The Arizona Republic's request for a comment on Friday, but Michael Ward, the candidate's husband, left a response on Dashevsky's Facebook page.

Dashevsky had written that she was "extremely disappointed in Kelli Ward's remarks" and that, "The notion that these millennials--who willingly volunteer their time--are stupid because they don't support your campaign is highly insulting."

Michael Ward wrote in reply, "Wow, I guess you did not actually listen to what was said and the context it was said in before casting aspersions, I think this is the first time that I have been disappointed in you. The McCain machine knows no bounds."

Lorna Romero, McCain's campaign spokeswoman, told The Republic that the McCain campaign had nothing to do with posting the video of Ward's comments or the letter demanding an apology.

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Nowicki is The Republic's national political reporter. Follow him on Twitter at @dannowicki and on his official Facebook page.