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Trailing in polls, Masters could pull off upset in AZ senate race

Trailing in polls, Masters could pull off upset in AZ senate race


U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters, pictured speaking at a July rally with Donald Trump, won Arizona's GOP primary this week. 

Trailing in polls, Masters could pull off upset in AZ senate race

There is growing optimism a U.S. Senate race in purplish Arizona could be winnable for the Republican Party, which would mean defeating an incumbent Democrat in the 50-50 Senate.

Republican candidate Blake Masters, 35, handily won the GOP primary August 2, moving him into a head-to-head political fight with the Democrat nominee, Sen. Mark Kelly (pictured below). Kelly ran unopposed in the primary.

Masters, who was endorsed by Donald Trump, defeated Attorney General Mark Brnovich and businessman Jim Lamon in an expensive and mud-slinging campaign. Official vote totals show Masters finished with 39% followed by Lamon in second place at 29%.

Rob Chambers of AFA Action says Masters demonstrated good “conservative DNA” in Arizona’s IVoterQuide, the candidate questionnaire that asks in-depth questions which some candidates answer and some do not.

“Blake Masters answered our candidate survey, and he gave some very strong answers on the issue of abortion,” Chambers says, “on the issue of government overreach as it relates to this supposed transgender rights.”

“I am 100% pro life and believe all children have the right to life,” Masters stated in a question about abortion.

IVoterGuide rated Masters “Leans Conservative” among the primary candidates. Lamon and Brnovich were one notch ahead and rated “Conservative.”

Chambers, Rob (AFA Action) Chambers

AFN reported in a recent story that a pre-primary poll showed Kelly ahead of by 13%.

After defeating incumbent Martha McSally in 2020, Kelly was elected to finish the term of the late John McCain. McSally’s surprise loss two years ago was criticized by Masters, who had predicted the GOP senator and former U.S. Air Force combat pilot would lose.

It is true that Kelly is leading Masters in the polls, Chambers says, “but this is a winnable seat for the GOP."

“There is a large conservative population in Arizona,” Robert Knight, a Washington Times columnist, tells AFN. “And I can imagine the Arizona people saying we've got to stop this Biden disaster somehow.”


Editor's Note: AFA Action is an affiliate of the American Family Association, the parent organization of the American Family News Network, which operates AFN.net.