“Blake Masters, a venture capitalist running for Senate in Arizona, is among the many Republicans who argue that the left’s obsession with racial identity politics is driving Latino voters away from the Democratic Party,” the New York Times reports.

“But as he vies for the Republican nomination, Mr. Masters has pushed a different sort of racial politics that could repel Latinos in the state.”

“For months, Mr. Masters has promoted a specious theory portraying illegal immigration across the southern border as part of an elaborate Democratic power grab. In speeches, social media videos and podcast interviews, he has asserted that Democrats are trying to encourage immigration so their party can dilute the political power of native-born voters.”

“Arizona Republicans have splintered multiple ways as the party tries to unseat Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ),” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“With the Senate GOP primary looming Aug. 2, polls have shown Blake Masters taking a lead after drawing the endorsement of former President Donald Trump and millions of dollars in campaign help from his mentor and former boss, venture capitalist Peter Thiel. While the field is crowded, Mr. Masters’s top competitors are seen as businessman Jim Lamon and state Attorney General Mark Brnovich.”

“Billionaire Peter Thiel’s support for Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters has now grown to $15 million as the venture capitalist and tech entrepreneur continued this month to pour money into the race to boost Masters’ cash-strapped campaign,” Politico reports.

“Thiel made an additional $1.5 million donation to the pro-Masters Saving Arizona super PAC on July 7.”

“Arizona Republican Blake Masters, who earned Donald Trump’s endorsement for the Senate race by embracing the former President’s lies that he won the 2020 election, has turned to questioning whether the 2022 midterm election will be legitimate, as he tries to lock up support among the party faithful ahead of next month’s primary,” CNN reports.

“That the first-time candidate is escalating doubts about the election system in Arizona — home to a months-long partisan review of 2020 ballots — is a sign of just how resonant some Republicans continue to believe those lies are with their base, even if similar pitches from Trump-backed candidates failed in Georgia, for example, earlier this year.”

Washington Post: Arizona Senate candidate embraces Trump’s extreme style.

Billionaire Peter Thiel “may be more responsible than anyone else for Blake Masters’ ascent in the Arizona Republican Senate primary,” Insider reports.

“The PayPal founder and early Facebook investor has poured $13.5 million into a super PAC called ‘Saving Arizona’ that’s supporting his protégé. And Masters’ opponents — particularly Republican businessman Jim Lamon — want voters to know it.”

“Blake Masters, a Republican candidate for the Senate in Arizona who won the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, has been dogged by a trail of youthful writings in which he lamented the entry of the United States into the First and Second World Wars, approvingly quoted a Nazi war criminal and pushed an isolationism that extended beyond even Mr. Trump’s,” the New York Times reports.

Andrew Anglin, the neo-Nazi publisher of The Daily Stormer, one of the internet’s most notorious hate sites, announced his endorsement of Blake Masters, declaring that the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Arizona “is getting better and better,” Jewish Insider reports.

A new Public Policy Polling survey finds Blake Masters leading the GOP Senate field with 29%, followed by Mark Brnovich at 15%, Jim Lamon at 10%, and Michael McGuire at 5%.

Blake Masters (R), who is running for U.S. Senate candidate in Arizona, was asked by conservative activists if he would support investigating U.S. intelligence operations to uncover the federal government’s “nefarious activities,” CNN reports.

Said Masters: “Absolutely.”

He then floated that the attack on the U.S. Capitol was a false-flag operation: “Don’t we suspect that like one-third of the people outside of the Capitol complex on January 6 were actual FBI agents hanging out. What did people know and when did they know it? We got to get to the bottom of this.”

“Former President Donald Trump has endorsed Arizona Senate hopeful Blake Masters (R) in a move that aides believe will give the Republican significant momentum ahead of the state’s August primary,” CNN reports.

“Masters, who is also backed by conservative tech billionaire Peter Thiel, is running in a crowded field of GOP candidates seeking to take on Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) in November.”

“Peter Thiel, the billionaire venture capitalist and tech entrepreneur, put another $3.5 million this month into a super PAC supporting Blake Masters in the highly competitive Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Arizona,” the Washington Post reports.

But Masters is still waiting for an endorsement by Donald Trump: “People close to Masters say the money helps make him viable, and provides a symbolic boost, but is nowhere near as consequential as what Trump decides to do.”

“Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich has fallen out of first place in the state’s Republican Senate primary, a slide that corresponds with aggressive advertising spending by his opponents — and Donald Trump’s ire,” Politico reports.

“For nearly a year, Brnovich held a steady lead in the primary to take on Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, a key race as the GOP seeks to take back the Senate majority.”

“But walking the fine line between his responsibilities as attorney general and Republican Senate hopeful has proved challenging in a state where Trump allies have unsuccessfully sought to challenge the 2020 presidential election results.”

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) is endorsing Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters (R), “flexing his muscle in a high-profile Republican primary and cementing a new ideological alliance shaping the midterm election,” Politico reports.

“Hawley — who is widely regarded as a prospective 2024 presidential contender — has now thrown his support to two of the most outspoken Republican populists running for Senate this year: Masters and Ohio Republican J.D. Vance. In both cases, Hawley is inserting himself into competitive primaries and backing candidates with notably anti-political establishment rhetoric and ideology.”

“Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) raised $1.6 million during the first quarter of 2022, and nearly 75% of her contributions totaled less than $100,” Axios reports.

“It’s a lot of money for a senator who isn’t up for re-election until 2024, and isn’t a member of leadership or a committee chair.”

Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), who is a rumored primary challenger to Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) in 2024, had a record fundraising quarter in the first three months of this year after Sinema faced a wave of progressive backlash, Insider reports.