I had seen Ward referred to as formerly working for John McCain, and assumed that he was a staffer in Washington, but all I have been able to find is that he was McCain’s Nevada state chairman in 2008.
BTW, I just read an article about ex-Congressman Sali (who lost the seat last year) supposedly considering running again, and the article had this very interesting paragraph about Vaughn Ward’s candidacy:
““The Ward campaign seems to be generating support from a lot of the more moderate factions of the party,” the source said. “That partially explains why Raul jumped in the race. Conservatives viewed there being a void.””
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/71957-former-rep-sali-weighing-options-in-minnick-race
Bill Sali managed to lose a district that gave 63% to John McCain after nearly losing it in 2006. That is not an impressive record at all.
If Labrador was telling the truth about his vote then he’s a fine candidate. His stated position on immigration is good for what that’s worth. Other than that issue his conservative credentials aren’t in doubt. He may simply balk at anything that raises state spending unnecessarily, that’s a great position however if illegals are getting state aid then money will be saved of course so the question is ‘do they?’.
Ward’s involvement with McCain was for the general election 2008. I can’t find mention of any prior involvement with McCain either. He served as a staffer for Senator Dirk Kempthorne prior to joining the Marines.
It does give me serious pause if the RINO elements and gas tax hikers prefer him though it might just be cause he’s a strong recruit. Since he has no record in any office we can’t know for certain how conservative he is.
Gotta wait and see here I guess.