Firebrand Republican Rakes In Campaign Cash

Blake Masters is running for Congress and raking in the dough.

In 2022, the incumbent, Mark Kelly, defeated Blake Masters by 4.9 points. Masters’ campaign committee was outspent by Kelly’s six times over despite having the support of Republican lawmakers and businesses and his fortune.

The 2022 election cycle brought in $14.8 million for Masters. A mere 25% came from modest contributors who gave $200 or less. A total of $89.2 million was raised by Kelly’s campaign, with small donors contributing $38.6 million, or 43% of that total.

Additionally, Masters loaned $1 million to his campaign from his funds.

Most of Masters’ support in 2022 came from the $21.7 million the Saving Arizona PAC spent to assist Masters. While super PACs are free to spend and raise limitless funds to support or oppose political candidates, they cannot donate directly to politicians or work with their campaigns.

Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and a venture investor, gave $20 million to the super PAC. Masters was the COO of Thiel Capital and president of the Thiel Foundation as he ran for the Senate in 2022.

As per Masters’ financial disclosure declaration from 2022, he was paid $450,000 by Thiel Capital and got $306,000 in royalties from the book he co-wrote with Thiel. Masters earned a salary of $774,000 and royalties of $340,000 in 2021.

Richard Uihlein of Uline, the Winklevoss twins—Tyler and William—billionaires, and Stephen A. Schwarzman of Blackstone are among the other significant contributors to Saving Arizona.

Masters acquired nearly $1.3 million in the initial two months following the announcement of his 2024 candidacy for Arizona’s 8th Congressional District, as reported by his campaign, and had over $1 million in liquid assets. None of his Republican primary challengers have accumulated more than that.

Among Masters’s opponents in the primary election are Abraham Hamadeh, a former prosecutor for Maricopa County, Anthony Kern, Ben Toma, and Trent Franks, a former congressman who served seven terms representing Arizona’s 2nd and 8th congressional districts.