An East Valley Republican is calling on Arizona’s senior senator and presidential candidate to resign because he is not adequately representing the voters in Congress.
Rep. Russell Pearce, R-18, says Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign has caused him to miss half of the U.S. Senate’s floor votes this year.
“If he’s going to be a full-time candidate then, yes, he should resign,” he said.
Pearce, a longtime critic of McCain’s stances on illegal immigration and tax reform, said he will eventually endorse someone for president, and it’s “a good assumption” it won’t be McCain.
A McCain spokeswoman said the senator had not shortchanged his constituents.
“Senator McCain is committed to representing the people of Arizona and has not missed one vote where his participation would have affected the outcome,” spokeswoman Melissa Shuffield said.
According to washingtonpost.com, McCain has missed 86 of 173 votes, or 49.7 percent of the Senate votes during the current Congress.
According to the Web site, the only other senator with a worse attendance record on voting is Democrat Tim Johnson of Dakota, missing all 173 votes while he recuperates from a Dec. 13 brain hemorrhage.
After McCain, the three senators with the worst attendance record on voting were three presidential hopefuls: Sam Brownback, R-Kan., 30.1 percent of votes missed; Joseph Biden, D-Del., 28.9 percent of votes missed, and Christopher Dodd, D-Conn. 18.5 percent of votes missed, washingtonpost.com said.
Arizona’s other senator, Republican Jon Kyl, was listed as missing six votes, or 3.5 percent.
The Association Press contributed to this article.