Venture capitalist Blake Masters won the Republican nomination for Senate in Arizona, after former president Donald Trump’s endorsement catapulted him to the front of the pack of candidates.
Mr Masters beat Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich and businessman Jim Lamon in the Republican primary on Tuesday. Mr Masters earned attention after he ran ads saying that he believed that the former president won the 2020 presidential election.
He also enjoys the support of venture capitalist and Trump ally Peter Thiel, his mentor in business and for whom he worked as chief operating officer of Thiel Capital. Mr Thiel poured millions into Arizona, specifically dropping at least $5m into Saving Arizona political action committee.
The move signals Mr Thiel’s second big coup in a GOP primary after his huge infusion of cash helped JD Vance win the Republican nomination for Senate in Ohio.
Mr Masters will now face Democratic Senator Mark Kelly in November. Mr Kelly won a special election in 2020 to finish the final two years of the late Senator John McCain’s term.
But Mr Masters also has a history of making inflammatory remarks, blaming “Black people, frankly” for gun violence. Similarly, The New York Times reported how as a student at Stanford University, he regularly posted on a CrossFit chatroom, including promoting an antisemitic conspiracy theory and the US entry into the First World War, ending it with a “poignant quotation” from top Nazi official Hermann Goering.
Mr Trump for his part endorsed Mr Masters in response to Mr Brnovich not promoting his lies about the 2020 presidential election being stolen. He also endorsed former news anchor Kari Lake for governor, Mark Finchem for Secretary of State and Abraham Hamadeh for Attorney General in the state.
Mr Masters’s victory also marked the second victory for Mr Trump on Tuesday. On Monday, he simply endorsed “Eric” in Missouri’s Senate race, even though two of the frontrunners--former governor Eric Greitens and Attorney General Eric Schmitt--bear the first name.
