Arizona Senate candidate dies in car crash one day after losing

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP). Arizona’s Democratic Senate candidate was killed when his car was struck by a suspected drunken driver Friday morning, a day after he lost the race to his Republican rival.

John McLean, 68, was driving a Toyota RAV4 in his hometown of Tucson around 6 a.m. when a Ford Explorer failed to stop at a stop sign and hit McLean’s vehicle at a high rate of speed as it crossed an intersection, Tucson police said. The department said.

The driver of the Explorer, 27-year-old Michael Martin Creel, was not seriously injured and was arrested on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated DUI. He was booked into the Pima County Jail.

An Internet search did not turn up an attorney who could represent Creel. The Associated Press did not immediately return a voicemail and an email sent to the Pima County Public Defender’s Office shortly before the close of business Friday.

The Pima County Democratic Party said it was “heartbroken to hear of the tragic death of John McLean.”

“We got to know John on the campaign trail, but as a third-generation Arizonan, he has long served in Tucson,” the statement said. “John was a leader in Pima County even before he took the step to improve our state and run for the Arizona State Senate.”

Vince Leach, his Republican opponent in the election, offered his condolences to McLean’s family and called him “a good man who conducted himself honestly as a candidate.”

The Associated Press had not announced the winner of the race as of late Friday night because it was too early to call. However, McLean acknowledged his involvement in the race on Thursday, writing on Facebook: “It has been an honor and a privilege to run as the Democratic candidate for the LD17 Senate seat.”

“Although the result was not what we had hoped for,” he added, “I am proud of the work that so many people put into our campaign.”

Republican Sen. Justine Wodsak, who has served as the Tucson representative since 2022, also expressed her condolences to McLean’s loved ones.

“John was deeply rooted in the Tucson community, a graduate of the University of Arizona, a retired Tucson business owner and a regular volunteer with the Humane Society,” she said. “It’s a travesty in every way.”