Arizona Expected to Receive Over $800 Million in 2024 Political Advertising, Most of Any Battleground State

Arizona is projected to be the recipient of nearly $1 billion in political advertising during the 2024 cycle, meaning the Grand Canyon State will receive the highest share of spending of any battleground state, and the second highest of any state in the union, should the projections be correct.

The state is expected to see about $821 million in advertising over the 2024 political cycle, according to a new report published by AdImpact. Arizona will receive almost $100 million more than the second highest battleground state, Pennsylvania, which is estimated to receive $725 million.

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Blake Masters Receives Endorsement from Former Senate Candidate Opponent Jim Lamon

Arizona Republican Senate nominee Blake Masters has received an endorsement from a former opponent, Senate candidate, veteran, and businessman Jim Lamon.

“We need to elect a conservative Republican who will vote for American values, secure our border, lower inflation and combat crime – on November 8th, join me in voting for Blake Masters,” said Lamon. “I am supporting Blake because Joe Biden and Mark Kelly have been a disaster for America and our great state. We must stop their Marxist agenda and put America and Arizona first.”

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Top Trump Nat Sec Aides Grenell, Patel Endorse Arizona GOP Senate Hopeful Blake Masters

Two members of President Donald J. Trump’s national security team endorsed Arizona GOP Senate hopeful Blake Masters in the Aug. 2 primary in a July 5 statement.

“We had the honor of working in President Trump’s administration. We know what America First looks like and what kind of person is needed in Washington, D.C., to fight against the swamp,” said Ric Grenell, who served as Trump’s ambassador to Germany and later the acting director of national intelligence, and Kash Patel, the former chief of staff to the defense secretary.

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Sparks Fly at U.S. Senate GOP Primary Debate in Arizona Between Brnovich, Lamon, Masters, McGuire, and Olson

The first Republican primary debate for the U.S. Senate race in Arizona took place Thursday night in downtown Phoenix, organized by Freedomworks. Three candidates polling in the lead participated; Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, solar billionaire businessman Jim Lamon, and Trump-endorsed, Thiel Foundation President Blake Masters. Two candidates who are lagging in the polls also debated; former Adjutant General of the Arizona National Guard Mick McGuire, and former Arizona legislator Justin Olson.

The debate got quite heated at times, with the candidates calling each other out and the audience often wildly cheering or loudly booing (even though they had been asked to remain silent at the beginning). Lamon and Masters, the candidates with the most money in the race, have been running TV ads attacking each other the last few weeks, and those attacks played out throughout the evening. 

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U.S. Senate Candidate Blake Masters Begins to Break Away from GOP Primary Field, Latest Independent Poll Finds

Arizona U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters is starting to break free from the crowded field and establish himself as the frontrunner, according to an independent poll from The Trafalgar Group.

The businessman secured roughly 29 percent of the support of respondents. Meanwhile, his closest competition, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich took in almost 24 percent of the vote.

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National Border Patrol Council-Endorsed Arizona Candidate for U.S. Senate Jim Lamon Running Barrage of Gutsy Ads, Some Censored by Big Tech

U.S. Senate candidate Jim Lamon, who is running as a Republican for office in Arizona to defeat incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, is making waves with his provocative, bold TV campaign spots. The left-leaning big tech companies don’t like them, however, and so both Yahoo and Facebook have pushed back, with Yahoo actually censoring them. While broadcast TV is generally required by law to run political ads (FCC rules state that if a station allows state and local political candidates to run ads, they must accept them from all candidates), big tech is not. Yahoo refused to run an ad of his because it merely said “Let’s Go Brandon.” 

Stephen Puetz, one of Lamon’s campaign staffers, told The Arizona Sun Times the ads are making a difference in getting Lamon’s name known, since polls show his support is increasing. Lamon is running against Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich in the Republican primary, who has considerable name recognition, and another candidate, Blake Masters, is making significant ground due to funding from his boss, Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel. 

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Masters Outraising Opponents in Arizona Senate Race

An insurgent candidate for U.S. Senate in Arizona outraised his opponents – including the state’s Attorney General – over the past year. 

According to records from the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), venture capitalist Blake Masters raised $3,577,745.06 between April 1, 2021 and March 31, 2022. The campaign registered $3,293,712.58 in itemized contributions, defined as contributions over $200, and $257,932.48 in unitemized contributions during that time period. 

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Arizona Republican Electors Suddenly Under Attack Now for Choosing Trump in the 2020 Election

People voting

Democrats are suddenly now attacking 11 Republican Arizona electors for choosing Donald Trump to receive Arizona’s electoral votes over a year ago, shortly after the 2020 presidential election. The Democrat-controlled U.S. House committee investigating the raucous protest at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 issued subpoenas on Jan. 28 for some of the Republican electors in seven swing states that submitted both a Republican slate of electors along with a Democratic slate, including two Arizona Republicans. 

A few of the electors have spoken up publicly in the last few days after it was made an issue, explaining they cast their votes believing Trump would prevail, since the election results were challenged in multiple lawsuits due to widespread belief there was voter fraud in Arizona and other swing states. The Arizona Sun Times reached out to several of them requesting comment, but they declined to respond, citing the legal risks. 

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Cook Political Report Shifts Democrat-Held Georgia, Arizona and Nevada Senate Seats to ‘Toss Up’

The Senate and governors editor for The Cook Political Report told The Star News Network the collapse of popular support for President Joseph R. Biden Jr., was one of the critical factors driving the political prognosticating site’s decision to move Senate races in Georgia, Arizona and Nevada to ‘Toss Up.’

“We never start an incumbent out in ‘Toss Up,’ until they have an opponent,” said Jessica Taylor, about the changes to move the three Democrats, Arizona’s Sen. Mark A. Kelly, Georgia’s Sen. Raphael G. Warnock and Nevada’s Sen. Catherine M. Cortez-Mastro from the presumption that they were favored for reelection.

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Report: Trump to Attend Masters Fundraiser, Joins Arizona GOP Senate Primary Fight

President Donald J. Trump is expected to attend a November 10 fundraiser for Arizona Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters at the president’s Palm Springs, Florida, Mar-A-Largo resort, according to media reports.

Trump has not made an endorsement yet in the race, but the president’s attendance at the event hosted by billionaire Peter A. Thiel is a clear sign an endorsement is in the offering.

Masters is a Thiel protégé and the chief financial officer of the Thiel Capital, the German-born PayPal co-founder’s family investing vehicle.

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Gubernatorial Hopeful Kari Lake Rallies to a Raucous Standing-Room-Only Crowd in Scottsdale

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona – A gubernatorial rally in Scottsdale for Kari Lake Monday night featured a long list of celebrities leading up to the former newscaster, who all spoke along her theme of “stand for freedom.” Lake’s plain-talking style had the audience standing and cheering as she declared, “We’re going to finish the wall!”

She hammered California, vowing to never let Arizona become a “California 2.0.” She said California “is the leftists’ dream.” “California was once heaven and now it’s hell.” She declared, “Keep that California crap away from me!” to roaring applause. Lake lamented how the Democrats’ “dead-end policies have brought blue states to their knees.” She warned that “the left wants to rip us to shreds.” 

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