For Immediate Release
Thursday, June 23, 2022
Contact: Hannah Goss, hgoss@azdem.org

PRE-DEBATE TABLE SET: What You Need to Know Ahead of Tonight’s #AZSen Debate 
PHOENIX — Tonight at 7 PM local time, all five GOP Senate primary candidates will share a stage for the first time in Arizona’s increasingly “bloody,” “combustible,” and “intensely personal” primary.
After spending weeks attacking each other on Twitter, TV, at events, and in interviews, sparks are sure to fly as candidates spin their dangerous, out-of-touch agendas. But before they do, here’s all you need to know ahead of tonight’s debate:

THEY WON’T SAY IT, SO WE WILL: This afternoon, the ADP held a press conference to shine a light on Brnovich, Lamon, and Masters’ GOP agendas, illustrating just how unfit they are to represent Arizona in the U.S. Senate. See below for some highlights:

• ADP Chair Raquel Terán: “Tonight you’ll hear them spin their agendas and pretend to care about Arizona’s interests, but here’s the truth: They are running to ban abortion, upend Social Security, and hike taxes on hardworking families. None of them — Brnovich, Lamon, or Masters — should ever make it to Washington.”
• Senate Democratic Leader Rebecca Rios: “It’s not just abortion — their GOP agenda hurts Arizonans of all walks of life, in every corner of the state. Blake Masters supports cutting entitlements like Medicare and Social Security and Jim Lamon wants to raise the retirement age — both of which would be devastating for Arizona’s seniors, the same ones they are supposedly running to represent.”
• House Democratic Leader Reginald Bolding: “Instead of talking about how they’re going to make life better for Arizonans, Mark Brnovich, Jim Lamon, and Blake Masters have spent this entire primary fighting to be the most extreme to stand out and capture the support of far-right GOP primary voters. And tonight, watch them turn this debate into the same race to the bottom, all to appeal to fringe Republican voters, even if it means running on unpopular policy positions that harm our state.”

WHICH #AZSEN PRIMARY CANDIDATE ARE YOU?: No really, are you a Brnovich, a Masters, or a Lamon? To get to know this “decidedly weak” field of “lesser-known Republicans” a little bit better, take this quiz! The options are terrible — but so are these candidates.

BINGO: Haven’t you heard? It’s not a debate unless there’s a bingo card. What better way to follow along with tonight’s absurdities.

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