Republican Blake Masters is taking a low-key approach to winning an endorsement from former President Donald Trump as he mounts a campaign for his party’s Senate nomination in Democratic-trending Arizona.
Masters, 34, did not mention Trump, or the Republican Party, during a slick, three-minute video issued Monday to launch his Senate bid. Rather, Masters unveiled his candidacy by messaging heavily on Trump’s populist agenda, emphasizing the cultural flashpoints that appeal to the Republican base and voters loyal to the former president.
It was deliberate, designed to position Masters as the authentic, Trump-aligned candidate and paint the other Republican contenders as patronizing posers.
“The president is smarter than that,” a Masters adviser said, referring to Trump and the lengths some candidates have gone to win his endorsement.
Tactically, Masters’s strategy makes some sense. Trump’s agenda has proven popular in public opinion polls, and running on it could appeal to Trump and the Republican base. Minimizing Trump’s personal brand could reach Republicans and conservative independents who were dissatisfied with the former president’s provocative rhetoric and behavior, allowing President Joe Biden and Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly to win the state narrowly in 2020 on the heels of Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s victory in 2018.
In his introductory video, Masters vows to “put this country first” by, in non-threatening language, cracking down on illegal immigration, opposing critical race theory, and standing up to large technology firms that have banned some conservatives and Republicans from their online platforms.
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“Our leaders have shipped millions of jobs to China, and the internet, which was supposed to give us an awesome future, is instead being used to shut us up,” Masters said. “The truth is, we can’t take America for granted. And, if we want to keep it, we’ve got to fight for it — because we are up against a media that lies to us; schools that teach our kids to hate our country and corporations that have gotten so big, they think they’re bigger than America.”
Kelly is up again in 2022 after winning a special election last year, allowing him to complete the term won in 2016 by Republican Sen. John McCain, who died in office in August 2018. Masters joins a GOP primary field that includes state Attorney General Mark Brnovich; wealthy businessman Jim Lamon; and Mick McGuire, former adjutant general of the Arizona National Guard.
Masters has never sought political office before but could enjoy an advantage.
Masters is the chief operating officer of both Thiel Capital and the Thiel Foundation, and he has close personal ties to venture capitalist Peter Thiel, a Republican megadonor and Trump acolyte.
Thiel spoke on Trump’s behalf at the Republican convention in Cleveland in 2016. Through working for Thiel, Masters ended up in Trump Tower in New York City that same year, working on the Trump presidential transition that provided him legitimate Trump bona fides.
Meanwhile, Thiel is expected to fund a pro-Masters super PAC. Arizona Democrats plan to use that against him.
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“Barreling into the race with $10 million in promised outside spending from a California billionaire, Blake Masters can’t even pretend he’s running to actually represent Arizonans — he’s trying to buy his way to the Senate,” said Arizona Democratic Party spokeswoman Sarah Guggenheimer in a statement. “Masters’ candidacy only serves to make a chaotic, expensive, and absurd primary that’s centered around President Trump, not Arizonans, even more volatile.”
Thiel is also helping finance a super PAC supporting J.D. Vance, a populist Republican running for Senate in Ohio who previously worked for his venture capital firm.
