For Immediate Release
Wednesday, August 3, 2022
Contact: Hannah Goss, hgoss@azdem.org
Introducing Blake Masters, the “Fringe,” “Extreme,” and “Combative” Republican Nominee for U.S. Senate
PHOENIX — Last night, Blake Masters managed to crawl out of the “decidedly weak” field of “C-listers” running in the GOP Senate primary to become the party’s nominee. Here’s what you need to know about Masters’ dangerous beliefs that are trouble both for Arizonans and for the AZ GOP:
For Arizonans, Blake Masters is a risk our state cannot afford. Already, thanks to a brutal primary, we know Masters:
- Supports a complete, nationwide ban on abortion without exception because he thinks abortion is “demonic”;
- Wants to privatize Social Security, threatening to “cut the knot” on seniors’ essential benefits;
- Blamed gun violence on “Black people, frankly;”
- Praised the Unabomber and called America’s participation in World War II “unjust;”
- Said that women make less money because men are the only ones who do the dangerous jobs;
- Spouts a laundry list of conspiracy theories, including Trump’s baseless election lies and the lie that the insurrection was a false-flag operation initiated by the FBI.
For Arizona Republicans, Masters is the worst-case scenario: a “fringe,” “extreme,” and “combative” candidate who will struggle to earn support in a general election electorate. Already, he has:
- “Fuel[ed some] concerns” from Republican party leaders because of his unpalatable beliefs;
- Failed to win a majority of the vote, with the majority of the GOP electorate voting against him;
- Failed to translate his Trump endorsement into any real fundraising strength, consistently raising less each quarter than he had previously;
- Publicly slammed, then majorly backtracked his criticism of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, his would-be boss in the Senate; and
- Been endorsed by fringe MAGA politicians like Madison Cawthorn and Marjorie Taylor Greene.
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