Trump-Backed Masters Dominates Arizona Republican Primary for US Senate

Trump-endorsed tech entrepreneur Blake Masters blew past four other Republicans in the Arizona primary for U.S. Senate on Aug. 2.

Masters, who’d claimed 39 percent of the vote with more than 95 percent of the votes counted, now advances to the Nov. 8 general election to take a swing at unseating Democrat incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly.

Kelly didn’t have a challenger in the Democratic primary.

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) speaks with a journalist before going to a luncheon with Senate Democrats on June 14, 2022 in Washington, DC.  (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Political forecasters who predict election outcomes generally agree on three U.S. Senate races in this cycle being “toss-ups.” Arizona is one.

The Senate races in Nevada and Georgia also are considered far too volatile to predict. Democrats hold all three.

Money has poured in from around the country to help Kelly and the other two incumbents in toss-up races.

In the office he hopes to retain, Kelly inhabits a traditionally Republican territory. Before he took office in 2020, the seat was held by the GOP since the beginning of Barry Goldwater’s term in 1969.

The late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) n Miami after winning the Florida Republican presidential primary, Jan. 29, 2008. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

Goldwater’s successor, John McCain, held the seat from 1986 until he succumbed to a brain tumor in August 2018. McCain, a polarizing figure among Republicans, won his party’s nomination for president in 2008, but lost in the general election to Barack Obama.

To fill the vacancy left by McCain, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) appointed another former U.S. Senator to the seat. Jon Kyl, a Republican, had represented Arizona in the Senate from 1995 until 2013. After replacing McCain, he resigned after almost four months, saying he wanted another appointee

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases