Grand Canyon Times

Former President Donald Trump has endorsed Blake Masters, a Tucson native and former COO of Thiel Capital, in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate.

In one of his longest endorsement statements yet, Trump praised Masters on June 2 for being “strong on border security, in particular, the disastrous southern border where people are pouring into the U.S. by the millions and destroying our country. Just two years ago, with the help of the wall, we had the strongest border in the history of our country, and now we have the weakest — Blake will turn that around quickly.”  

“Additionally, he will cut taxes and regulations, be tough on crime and support our military and our vets," Trump said. "Blake will fight for our totally under-siege Second Amendment, and win.”

The endorsement adds momentum to an already surging campaign: A recent Fabrizio Lee poll showed Masters in the lead by four points over his nearest competitors, Jim Lamon and Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich. 

In regard to Brnovich, Trump made a point of mentioning him in Masters’ endorsement. 

“Mark Brnovich is such a disappointment to me," Trump said. "He is the current Arizona attorney general, and while he understands what took place in the 2020 presidential election, and that it was rigged and stolen, he only views it as something he would like not to see happen again. The Arizona state Senate gave him overwhelming evidence of fraud and irregularities, issued a report which was damning and he did nothing about it. In other words, all talk and no action. Brnovich, therefore, does not support clean and fair elections, or law and order, and could not properly represent the people of Arizona in the United States Senate.” 

With a 93% win record with his endorsements in the 2022 primaries, Trump has shown he knows how to pick winners, especially in U.S. Senate primaries, where he has a perfect record to date. 

But the endorsement carries extra weight especially in Arizona, where Trump enjoys a nearly 90% approval rating with Republican voters, with over 70% strongly approving. 

Polls have shown a Trump endorsement in the Senate primary can shift the race 20 points in favor of the endorsed candidate. 

In response to Trump’s endorsement, Masters tweeted, “Endorsed by President Trump! Doesn’t get any better. Sights set for Nov. 8. The message: America First."

With Masters well-positioned to win the primary on Aug. 2, he would face one of the most vulnerable incumbent Democrat senators, Mark Kelly, in the general election. Although Kelly is well-funded, with many leftist groups already spending money in Arizona, historical trends since World War II show that the party in power in the White House on average loses 28 House seats and four Senate seats in its first midterm. 

With President Joe Biden’s approval rating below 40% nationally, and barely above 30% in Arizona specifically, the winner of the Republican primary is well-positioned to take the seat in the November midterms.