Former Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters became the latest Republican to enter the race to replace Representative Debbie Lesko (R-AZ-08) in the U.S. House on Thursday, with the candidate joining a growing field that also includes former Arizona Secretary of State candidate Abe Hamadeh.
Masters revealed his intention to run on X, formerly Twitter, where he wrote that “Biden has failed” and suggested he will work with congressional Republicans to stop inflation, finish the southern border wall, and avoid foreign conflicts that could escalate into a world war. Lesko, the Republican who holds the seat, is not seeking re-election in 2024.
“We need new leaders. People who haven’t spent their lives in politics, [and] that’s why I’m running for Congress,” said Masters in his campaign announcement video that prominently featured former President Donald Trump. With his family at his side, Masters heralded the virtues of Arizona and promised to make the state “the best place in the whole world to live, work, and raise a family” if elected to Congress.
I'm running for Congress, to fight for Arizona's 8th.
Biden has failed. We need Trump back. We need to stop inflation, Build the Wall, avoid WW3, and secure Arizona's water future. We need to fight for our families.
DONATE NOW to send me to the House! https://t.co/SHG8CRcJHu pic.twitter.com/atte7wNHeu
— Blake Masters (@bgmasters) October 26, 2023
The Arizona Sun Times previously reported Masters was planning a run for Arizona Senate to seek the seat currently held by Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), but he seemed to opt against the decision following former gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake’s decision to seek the seat. When his Senate campaign announcement seemed imminent, Lake chastised Masters for being “quite silent” on “election fraud and election crime.”
With Masters’ presence in the race, more than a dozen candidates have now declared their intention to seek Lesko’s seat, including Republicans Isaiah Gallegos, Brandon Urness, Seth Coates, Rollie Stevens, and Jimmy Rodriguez, according to Arizona Capitol Times. Some also expect Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma (R-Peoria) to run for the seat.
Though most of the declared candidates do not have Masters’ high profile, Hamadeh received Lake’s endorsement after she urged him to run. He has since secured endorsements from a collection of state and regional Republican voices.
A poll released Wednesday, before Masters declared his candidacy, showed Hamadeh winning a three-way primary race, including Masters and Ben Toma, and a head-to-head race against Masters. However, more than one-third of respondents told pollsters they remained undecided about which Republican to support.
Hamadeh wrote on X that Masters was tricked by the establishment “into driving all the way from Tucson and getting in the race.” Reports previously indicated Masters was urged to run for Congress by the influential Club for Growth.
It is sad to see the establishment tricking @bgmasters into driving up all the way from Tucson and getting in the race. They want the America First movement divided. Voters will remember who stood tall against the entrenched political class and who ran into their arms. pic.twitter.com/vZLXYRKXy6
— Abe Hamadeh (@AbrahamHamadeh) October 26, 2023
When Lesko announced her retirement, Masters called her “a great public servant for Arizonans” who “loves our state” and left Arizonans “better off for her service.”
Arizona’s 8th District is considered a solidly Republican. In 2022, Lesko did not face a Democratic opponent in the general election, and Trump carried the district by 13 points in 2020.
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Tom Pappert is a reporter for The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Tom on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Blake Masters” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.
