A new report suggests that venture capitalist and Arizona’s 2022 GOP Senate nominee Blake Masters will run again for office in 2024.
Masters, who was defeated by Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) last fall, is expected to announce his candidacy in the coming weeks, according to The Wall Street Journal. Incumbent Senator Krysten Sinema (I-AZ) is up for re-election, but the state’s 2024 Senate GOP primary could prove to be contentious. Former GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has suggested she could also run for the seat next year.
Masters’ last campaign was one of the most watched races of the 2022 cycle as it was widely seen as a key battleground in determining control of the Senate. Kelly was one of the best-funded candidates of the 2022 cycle, having raised over $70 million over the course of the campaign. Masters’ campaign was hampered in general by poor fundraising relative to Kelly’s machine.
Kelly led for the majority of his race for re-election despite significant perceived headwinds for Democrats. During that race, the Democrat distanced himself from President Joe Biden, never requesting that Biden come to Arizona to campaign with him and demurring when asked about it by reporters.
Polls tightened between Kelly and Masters in the closing weeks of the race. With one week left until election day, the Libertarian candidate in the race, Marc Victor, announced that he was dropping out and endorsed Masters. While Victor never polled high, Masters touted the endorsement as a “major boost” in the close race against Kelly.
Ultimately, Kelly took home roughly 51% of the vote while Masters earned 46%.
Barrett Marson, an Arizona GOP strategist, predicted to POLITICO that Masters could have a tough time in 2024 if Lake enters the race.
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“I think he is now under the impression that maybe Kari Lake isn’t going to run, because I’ll tell you if Lake and Blake are both in, he is wasting his time,” he said. “They occupy the same lane. They have nearly the same name. And she has much better positive name ID among Republicans than Blake does.”
Tim Pearce contributed to this report.