What to Know About The “Fractured” AZ GOP Senate Primary & Blake Masters

In response to Blake Masters jumping into Arizona’s “fractured” GOP Senate primary, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesperson Stewart Boss released the following statement:

“Blake Masters’ entrance into Arizona’s Senate race just injected another $10 million into an already nasty, expensive, and crowded intra-party fight. His Republican opponents will certainly highlight how Masters is deeply indebted to a personal super PAC funded by his Silicon Valley boss as he joins a messy primary field of candidates who are going to tear each other apart to try to earn Trump’s support instead of focusing on the real issues that matter to Arizonans.”

Here’s what you need to know about the Arizona GOP primary and California’s Blake Masters:

• POLITICO: Peter Thiel makes $10M bet on associate in Arizona Senate race. “Libertarian tech titan Peter Thiel is spending $10 million to boost one of his closest allies in next year’s Arizona Senate race…The billionaire is coming out in support of Blake Masters, the chief operating officer of Thiel Capital and the president of the Thiel Foundation.”

• Masters and his $10 million aren’t the only big money in this expensive race. Within days of his launch, Jim Lamon went up on TV airing ads in both Arizona and at President Trump’s New Jersey golf course, and Club for Growth has hinted it’s ready to join the fray to support Congressman Andy Biggs.

• The sham Maricopa County “audit” will serve as a major “purity test” in this primary, further fracturing the Arizona GOP. President Trump has demonstrated a near-singular focus on the ‘audit’ — calling out anyone he deems insufficiently supportive and creating a “purity test” for GOP Senate candidates, even as “Republican county officials condemned the recount as a bizarre ‘grift.’”

• The gloves have already come off in this combative primary — with GOP candidates accusing each other of “never ha[ving] President Trump’s back” and calling each other “sad” and “politically motivated.” Already candidates in the GOP primary have started attacking each other over who is most loyal to Trump. Masters’ entry into the race will only escalate tensions and make sure no candidate emerges unscathed.

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