Masters will face Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, who was unopposed in his primary on Tuesday, in what is expected to be one of the nation’s most competitive and expensive midterm races, with control of the Senate 50-50 on the line. . Masters was the managing director of GOP megadonor Peter Thiel’s investment firm, and his campaign was supported by more than $15 million in spending from Thiel. Masters, who has spread lies about the 2020 election results and accused Democrats of trying to “change the demographics” of the country, defeated businessman Jim Lamon and Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, among others, in the primary GOP election on Tuesday. Finchem aims to be the chief election officer in a state that conducts mostly mail-in voting and has been the target of a series of conspiracy theories promoted by Trump and his allies, who falsely claim the 2020 election was stolen by former president. Arizona’s secretary of state is the state’s second-highest executive elected official and first in line to succeed the governor, as the state does not have a lieutenant governor. Finchem was a member of the far-right “Oath Keepers” in 2014 and was an organizer of the “Stop the Steal” movement that was fueled by Trump’s lies about election fraud. He will face the winner of the Democratic primary between Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes and state Rep. Reginald Bolding. Finchem said the state Legislature should be able to override the will of voters in presidential elections — a position that, if adopted by Republicans after the November election, could lead to a crisis in his election. 2024 in one of the nation’s most competitive battleground states. Finchem believes the legislature should be able to override the will of the voters. Two other Republican candidates in the race have supported stricter election laws, but have rejected the kinds of lies about voter fraud that Finchem has pushed.
