Minuteman Co-Founder to Challenge McCain in GOP Primary

The co-founder of a group dedicated to fighting illegal immigration plans to challenge former GOP presidential nominee John McCain for his Senate seat in the Republican primary.

Chris Simcox is expected to announce his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat from Arizona Wednesday along the Arizona-Mexico border, FOX News learned.

Simcox is the co-founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a group devoted to border security. On Tuesday he resigned as president of the group in anticipation of his run for Senate.

"John McCain has failed miserably in his duty to secure this nation's borders and protect the people of Arizona from the escalating violence and lawlessness," Simcox said in a written statement.

"He has fought real efforts over the years at every turn, opting to hold our nation's border security hostage to his amnesty schemes. Coupled with his votes for reckless bailout spending and big government solutions to our nation's problems, John McCain is out of touch with everyday Arizonans. Enough is enough."

McCain is a popular target for illegal immigration foes for his support of reform legislation they say amounted to amnesty for some illegal immigrants.

FOX News' Carl Cameron contributed to this report.