Republican Blake Masters is running against current Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly for U.S. Senate. Whoever wins between these two opponents could determine which party will control the Senate next year. Arizona previously voted for Democrats, Kelly and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, during its 2020 and 2018 elections. Voting for the midterm election will take place Nov 8.
Who is Blake Masters?
Masters is a Republican running as a first-time candidate for the U.S. Senate representing Arizona. Masters is an Arizona native — he grew up in Tucson.
Masters attended Stanford University for his undergraduate degree and received his law degree from Stanford in 2008. He has been married for 10 years and shares three sons with his wife.
He describes himself on his personal website as “a Christian, husband, father, gun owner, and businessman.”
The 36-year-old started his career as a venture capitalist and businessman. Right out of law school he co-founded a tech company called Judicata. He also co-wrote a New York Times bestselling book titled “Zero to One,” which is about startups and venture capital.
Masters got involved in politics in 2016 when he joined former President Donald Trump’s transition team. He chose to put aside his business career to pursue politics.
“Joe Biden and his sidekick Mark Kelly have delivered chaos at our Border, skyrocketing inflation, failing schools, and widespread wokeness,” Masters wrote on his website. “They’ve quickly made America dangerous and unaffordable.”
He is endorsed by Trump, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., the U.S. Border Patrol Council, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey.
What are Masters’ policies?
In short, Masters is anti-abortion, wants strictness at the border and encourages domestic oil production. Here is a breakdown of Masters’ policies.
Immigration: Masters in pushing for a stricter approach at the border. Time magazine reports that Masters is relying on his immigration stance to win the election.
- Masters wants to triple border control, hire more immigration agents and finish building the border wall, according to his campaign website. He also wants to hire more magistrate judges to speed up the deportations process.
- In August, Masters tweeted, “Imagine all the terrorists who snuck in but weren’t caught. Brought to you by Joe Biden and Mark Kelly.”
Economy: Masters hopes to decrease government spending and encourage domestic oil production, according to Axios.
- Masters says that the excessive spending and printing of money by Biden is to blame for increased inflation rates. He vows to decrease government spending.
- Masters supports domestic oil production, including fracking. He believes this process will reduce energy costs.
Abortion: Throughout his campaign, Masters has altered his stance on abortion, according to NBC News. His most recent stance is for a federal ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
- Masters previously claimed to support fetal personhood laws, which would legally classify abortion as murder.
Details: His personal website says, “Blake’s No. 1 priority is to ensure America (and Arizona!) remains the best place in the world to raise a family.”
Controversial comments from Masters
Masters has made racist and bigoted comments in the past, Time magazine reports.
He said “Black people” are to blame for gun violence in America. He also said that Democrats are trying to flood the country with immigrants “to change the demographics of our country,” according to PBS NewsHour.
According to Time, Masters has also promoted the “great replacement theory,” which suggests there is a plot to decrease the influence of white people in America.
Who is Blake Masters running against?
Masters is running against Kelly, who was voted into office in 2020.
Kelly, who is a former NASA astronaut, is currently slightly ahead of Masters in the polls.