Blake Masters to announce a second Senate run

Blake Masters could be very close to announcing a new Senate candidacy. According to three people familiar with his intentions, the Republican businessman plans to announce another bid for the Senate. This comes after his failed attempt in 2022 when he lost to Mark Kelly by a difference of 5 percentage points.

Masters debuted at the polls during the 2022 midterm elections, when he defeated Jim Lamon and Mark Brnovich in the primaries to try to unseat Kelly in the general election.

Despite being the frontrunner in the polls, particularly in the final weeks of the campaign, Masters fell short of his rival. He won 46.5% compared to 51.4% for the Democrat, who secured a full term.

According to this report, the 37-year-old Republican will make a new attempt to win a seat in the Senate. This time, his target would be Kyrsten Sinema, who has not yet confirmed her intentions. Rubén Gallego, the progressive democrat, has confirmed that he is running for Senate and claims that Sinema has abandoned her voters.

According to his political platform, Gallego supports raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour and raising taxes for “billionaires” while declaring that inflation is a consequence of “the supply chain, the COVID-19 pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine.”

Mark Lamb is currently the only Republican candidate to make his candidacy official. The Pinal County Sheriff has border security as his main campaign issue.

“Washington needs a new Sheriff in town. (...) I will stand up to the woke left and weak politicians in Washington, secure our border and support our law enforcement. Defend our Second Amendment and the right to life, cutting wasteful spending, fighting inflation and putting more money back in your pocket.”

Also, Kari Lake is expected to enter the race in October, which would immediately make her the favorite to win the primary.

The Republican dilemma in Arizona

After Rick Scott’s (R-FL) tenure as the head of the Republican National Senatorial Committee (NRSC), Steve Daines (R-MT) was chosen as the new leader of the committee tasked with retaining current GOP senators and electing new Republican senators.

In stark contrast to his predecessor, he is already getting involved in key state primaries to ensure he pushes competitive candidates who “can win a general election.” Indeed, he has already endorsed Sam Brown in Nevada, Jim Justice in West Virginia and Tim Sheehy in Montana.

Barrett Marson, a Republican strategist in Arizona, isn’t too happy about Masters and Lake’s potential candidacies. He told POLITICO, “Just look at what happened in the last two elections. You in no way have to guess what happens when MAGA candidates ignore bread-and-butter issues that Arizonans care about.”

“Kari Lake is not a governor. Blake Masters is not a senator. Republicans have to get back to basics,” he added.

Brady Smith, also a local strategist and former adviser to Lake’s campaign, warned not to underestimate the popularity of the most Trumpist candidates with the party’s bases. “She’s demonstrated that she still wields the loyalty of the GOP base; anyone eyeing the Senate race has to factor that into their calculus,” he said regarding Lake, in POLITICO.