Despite a controversial few weeks in the news, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters still believes he will take the upcoming primaries and the following election against incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly.
Just days after headlines ran across the country about the Donald Trump-endorsed candidate’s ideas on race and gun violence, Masters sat down with Sedona Red Rock News to discuss his campaign platform before his fundraiser in West Sedona on June 10.
“Mark Kelly has voted for every [President] Joe Biden spending bill. So I think I’ll win just by being really bold but in service of a common sense agenda,” Masters said. “[Kelly and I] are kind of the opposite in a lot of ways. He pretends to be moderate. But if you look at his voting record, it’s actually very far left. And I think that’s out of step with Arizona.”
But perhaps, Masters’ most emphasized platform is his devotion to Trump and his ideals. Masters’ campaign largely bases its identity on Trump’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns, from a wall on the southern border to a pro-business platform.
“I’m running on an America First agenda very similar to the Trump 2016 agenda, which I continue to think was genius and what we needed in 2016,” Masters said. “I think it’s what we needed in 2020 and we didn’t get it. And we’re paying the price now.”
But in a state with roughly one-third of the electorate being registered Republicans, one-third registered Democrats and one-third independents or “other,” it may seem like a stretch for Masters to get the votes he needs with such a harsh attitude towards any voter besides conservative Republicans.
Although he said he knows that most Democrats will stick with Kelly, he hopes the Republican vote
that will give him the victory even by just a few points.
“I think I can also articulate these correct and conservative ideas in ways that will attract moderates and independents, not alienate them,” Masters said.
Aside from a conservative platform, Masters’ solutions to individual Arizona issues are a little less direct, with some nods to the state’s water issues and public land management.
For Sedona, a city surrounded by Coconino National Forest, in a state with 42% of land publicly owned, issues with the land management grows as problems with off-highway vehicles, camping and wildfires increases.
“One thing I want to do is get a lot of the federal lands back in state hands. I think the state legislature and people in Arizona should be deciding most of these questions,” Masters said. “The ratios are way off. It’s not just about going and getting federal funding to come back. I’ll do some of that, but I don’t like the way that system works.”
With no real formulized plan to do this yet, one of Masters’ key ideas is also cutting environmental regulations that result in fire danger and job loss, like the push to stop logging in the forests. He also believes in cutting off California’s lion share of water and negotiate on Arizona’s behalf instead.
“I think this ideological approach to environmental regulation doesn’t work,” Masters said. “I want to see a much more hands-off approach, or even if it’s not hands-off, let the people of Arizona decide, not D.C.”
With the primaries coming up Tuesday, Aug. 2 and the general election not too far after that on Tuesday, Nov. 8, Masters still holds a lead in some polls over his other Republican candidates: Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich and businessman Jim Lamon.
Yet the majority of polls still predict Kelly to win the election against any of the Republican candidates.
“It’s crazy that we have two Democrat senators,” Masters said. “When I was a kid those seats were ruby red. It’s not a blue state so I thought I could do something about it and see how much change one person can make.”
