Arizona Republicans Face A “Protracted, Expensive Primary” Fight

New reporting from POLITICO today highlights how Blake Masters’ entrance into Arizona’s increasingly crowded GOP Senate primary continued a “protracted, expensive” fight as the candidates all try to navigate a deeply divided state Republican Party for the next year and chase an elusive Trump endorsement even after the former president lost the state in 2020.
Read more:

POLITICO: Thiel ally’s entrance kicks off protracted GOP Senate fight in Arizona
Arizona is one of Senate Republicans’ top targets in 2022, but they will have to fight through a year-long primary first.

By James Arkin
July 13, 2021

Key Points:

• The Republicans running to turn back Democratic gains in Arizona and flip a critical Senate seat next year will have to fight through a protracted, expensive primary first.

• Arizona’s Republican Party has been riven by deep divisions for more than a decade.

• Now, the crowded, cash-flush Senate primary all but assures that Republicans will be fighting over who their nominee will be for more than a year, while Kelly, who narrowly won in 2020, rakes in cash and consolidates his position.

• In an interview, Masters hit out at Kelly and the Democratic Party — but in a way that would also serve as a swipe at any elected official regardless of party, in a possible preview of the GOP primary fight to come as the candidates all try to show outsider credentials.

• One Arizona Republican tracking the race said of the primary field: “At this point, I would say they’ve all got a lot to prove. They’ve got to earn their spot.”

• Like in other GOP Senate primaries, former President Donald Trump looms, and he will be at a rally in the state later this month. Masters said he had not yet met or spoken with Trump about his campaign, but he said he would welcome the former president’s support if he were to endorse in the race. Trump has not weighed in on the primary except to criticize Ducey and Brnovich prior to the attorney general’s campaign launch.

• Masters called the 2020 election “messy” and did not say if he believed the election was legitimate. Trump has repeatedly claimed the election was fraudulent, despite a lack of evidence, and many Republican Senate candidates have also questioned or attempted to undermine the election results.

###