(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) Billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel said that he will make a massive contribution to Blake Masters’s Arizona senatorial campaign if a Senate Republican super-PAC offers matching funds, Axios reported.
Masters—who was recruited by Thiel to run, with support from former President Donald Trump—has trailed Democrat incumbent Mark Kelly in recent polling, but Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said that he is open to the idea of the Senate Leadership Fund PAC can raise the funds.
It follows weeks of intra-party drama that saw McConnell previously pull funding from the race in favor of less competitive races in New Hampshire and Alaska, where the candidates may be more supportive of McConnell’s pro-Establishment agenda.
As of the end of June, Kelly had raised $53 million to Masters’s $5 million.
Nonetheless, with a strong performance in a recent debate, Masters has closed the gap to 3%–a margin that pundits say can be overcome with a strong final push.
“Mark Kelly said no to 18,000 more Border Patrol agents, but yes to 87,000 new IRS agents. That shows you what his priorities are,” Masters said during the debate, slamming Kelly for his support of illegal immigration and bureaucracy.
“Mark Kelly left our southern border wide open, voted for all the trillions in spending that caused this massive inflation, and he thinks the fix is 87,000 new IRS agents.”
Thiel’s potential deal with McConnell would lead to an additional $10 million for Masters in the final push before the general election in November.
The tech billionaire initially gave Masters $15 million through his Saving Arizona PAC to win the primary, but has since ceased funding Masters’s campaign in hopes that others would step in to help.
McConnell and company recently pulled $9.6 million in advertisements slated to support Masters, but other groups have covered most of the losses.
“We’re glad to see Republican outside forces showing up in a big way in Arizona, with millions in new spending pledged to take down Mark Kelly in the final stretch,” One Nation President Steven Law said. “This allows us to pursue offensive opportunities, maximize our investment in existing commitments, and concentrate our efforts to win the Senate majority.”
