(National Review) Tech entrepreneur Blake Masters, whose campaign was sponsored by PayPal Founder Peter Thiel, triumphed soundly in Arizona’s GOP Senate primary on Tuesday.
As of Wednesday morning, with roughly 90 percent of ballots counted, Masters had secured 39 percent percent of the vote compared to businessman Jim Lamon’s 29 percent, Arizona attorney general Mark Brnovich’s 18 percent, and retired major general Michael McGuire’s 9 percent.
By the latest polling numbers, Masters was the favorite to win, leading the race by a significant margin, according to a July 31 survey from Emerson College.
A longtime mentee and associate of Thiel, Masters received a generous campaign donation of $10 million from the investor after announcing his bid. Besides supporting his former student, Thiel has financially backed a number of GOP rising stars, including “New Right” firebrand and Ohio Republican Senate candidate J.D.Vance and Missouri attorney general and Republican Senate candidate Eric Schmitt, who won his primary election on Tuesday as well.
A longtime mentee and associate of Thiel, Masters received a generous campaign donation of $10 million from the investor after announcing his bid. Besides supporting his former student, Thiel has financially backed a number of GOP rising stars, including “New Right” firebrand and Ohio Republican Senate candidate J.D.Vance and Missouri attorney general and Republican Senate candidate Eric Schmitt, who won his primary election on Tuesday as well.
Masters gained notice for the way he embraced elements of the populism espoused by former president Trump, favoring protectionism over free trade, border hawkishness over lax border enforcement, and foreign policy restraint over interventionism.
In one ad he ran, Masters said the slogan, “In America, you should be able to raise a family on one single income,” hinting at a socio-economic insecurity facing the American middle class which his conservative vision would seek to rectify.
