Blake Masters, disaster for democracy, wins Republican nomination for Senate in AZ

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/08/blake-masters-republican-nominee-senate-arizona-best-man-trump-thiel/

Blake Masters, a far-right disciple of Silicon Valley titan Peter Thiel who has echoed the ideas of an “absolute monarchist,” mused about retiring all government employees, and campaigned as the Arizona avatar of Trumpist nativism—losing in the process the respect of the best man at his wedding, with whom he longer speaks—has won the nomination to be the Republican nominee for Senate in Arizona.

Masters beat a competitive five-person field on Tuesday. As with just about everything else in his professional life, the first-time candidate has Thiel to thank. The billionaire put at least $15 million behind the 35-year-old Masters—who was his chief of staff and the president of his charitable foundation until March—and proved essential to the Donald Trump endorsement that secured Masters’ victory.

Masters will face Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, the astronaut and husband of former member of Congress Gabby Giffords, in what is expected to be one of the closest races of the year. If Masters loses, Democrats have a decent chance of holding the Senate. If he wins, Thiel could have two former employees in the Senate: Masters and J.D. Vance, the Hillbilly Elegy author and Ohio Senate candidate whom Thiel has spent another $15 million boosting.

As I reported in a profile of Masters earlier this month, after spending much of his youth as a libertarian purist, Masters now positions himself as an America First ally of Tucker Carlson. Ever the venture capitalist, Masters sees the United States as another bloated company that could be turned around with the right investments. If the system most Americans call democracy ends up being disrupted in the process, that might just be the cost of doing business.

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