For Immediate Release
Tuesday, July 5, 2022
Contact: Hannah Goss, hgoss@azdem.org
FOUR WEEKS OUT: What You Need to Know About Arizona’s “Increasingly Nasty” and “Intensely Personal” GOP Senate Primary
PHOENIX — Just four weeks to go and Arizona’s GOP Senate primary is “turning increasingly bloody” as the rivals go “scorched earth” on each other. Between the seven-figure Masters vs. Lamon attack ad war, last month’s “heated debate,” and the near-daily Twitter feuds, this race is messier than ever.
See below for the four things you need to know heading into the hectic homestretch of this primary:
- TRUMP LOOMS LARGE (STILL): One month ago, Donald Trump endorsed Thiel-backed Blake Masters, making a messy primary messier and triggering an all-out attack ad blitz worth millions in intraprimary spending. Between his appearance in an ad to boost Masters, his cease and desist letter to Brnovich, and his upcoming trip to Arizona, the former president’s role in this “combustible” primary between three pro-Trump, MAGA Republicans won’t diminish any time soon.
- CAN MONEY BUY THE AZGOP?: Between Jim Lamon’s personal pledge of $50 million and Blake Masters’ $13.5 million backing from his billionaire mentor Peter Thiel, this primary is all dollars and no sense. It also means these campaigns are, and will continue to spend big on ads to blanket Arizona’s airwaves over the next month.
- TWO WORDS: WIDE OPEN: With four weeks to go, “Republicans are still sorting through” their “decidedly weak” field of “lesser-known” GOP candidates. Because of that, the “energy tycoon,” the “billionaire-backed populist,” and Trump’s favorite punching bag will spend every waking moment duking it out to break through this “wide-open field.”
- ANTI-ARIZONA THROUGH AND THROUGH: When they’re not misspelling Arizona’s second-largest city, buying up endorsements, spouting divisive (and downright dangerous) rhetoric, or abusing their official office for personal gain, these candidates are pushing an agenda that is entirely out of step with what Arizonans actually want. Running to ban abortion, privatize Social Security, and hike taxes, these candidates continue to prove just how unfit they are to represent Arizona in the U.S. Senate.
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