Tucson venture capitalist Blake Masters announced Thursday that he is running for Arizona’s 8th Congressional District. There was much speculation that he would make another attempt for the U.S. Senate, but Masters decided against it.
Speaking to KTAR-FM Friday, he explained that he did not want to oppose fellow Republican Kari Lake. This would lead to a contested primary against a candidate endorsed by former President Donald Trump.
Blake Masters garners endorsements from Gosar and Vance for Arizona congressional run, but not from Kari Lake https://t.co/O2kf1SQwzs
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) October 30, 2023
Within hours of Masters’ announcement, Lake indicated she will throw her powerful support behind Abraham Hamadeh. The 8th District GOP candidate lost his bid to be Arizona’s attorney general by less than 300 votes in 2022.
Then over the weekend, Lake doubled down on her backing of Hamadeh against Masters. Her campaign posted on social media that he “has fought unwaveringly beside @KariLake in their battle against Maricopa County’s corruption.”
A spokesperson for Lake did not mince words in declaring her endorsement of Hamadeh. In an email to Newsmax, they noted “two men have announced their candidacy to represent Arizona’s 8th Congressional District.”
In a clear shot at Masters, the statement said, “Sadly, only one of them had the courage to stay in the foxhole with Kari to expose the corruption in Maricopa County.”
The note added that Lake will support the one “that didn’t tuck his tail and run.”
Lake is running against incumbent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ).
The race for the U.S. House seat Masters will bid for is open after Rep. Debbie Lesko, a Freedom Caucus member, announced she will not seek reelection next year.
Masters lost his bid last year to unseat Sen. Mark Kelly (R-AZ) by a 51.4% to 46.5% margin. He was heavily outspent by his Democratic opponent in the contest.
The candidate for the 8th District posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that “[President Joe] Biden has failed. We need [Donald] Trump back. We need to stop inflation. Build the Wall, avoid WW3, and secure Arizona’s water future. We need to fight for our families.”
The race between Masters and Hamadeh should be competitive, but Lesko’s seat will likely go to whoever emerges victorious in the Republican primary. Lesko dominated recent elections and ran unopposed in 2022.
