Trump-endorsed Arizona senatorial candidate Kari Lake, who’s running against Democratic Representative Ruben Gallego for outgoing Sen. Kyrsten Sinema‘s Senate seat, has endorsed Abe Hamadeh for Arizona’s 8th Congressional District.
(Note: Hamadeh lost the 2022 Arizona Attorney General’s race to Kris Mayes, who won by 280 votes, and claims — in a new filing with the Maricopa Country Superior Court — that Mayes is “usurping” the position which belongs to him.)
In his congressional race, Hamadeh, who has also been endorsed by Trump, is running against venture capitalist Blake Masters in the Republican primary.
Masters, who lost to Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) in a Senate race in 2022 (and conceded), announced in October that rather than run against Lake for Sinema’s seat, he would throw his hat into the congressional race. Masters is also pro-Trump. (Masters and Lake reportedly had a tense phone conversation in September that left “a bad taste in their mouths.”)
At a recent press conference (below), ABC News politics reporter Libby Cathey asked Lake: “I’m curious, when was the last time you talked to Blake Masters?”
MASTERS: “Kari very kindly reached out to me after my son was born a few weeks ago —we had a nice exchange and I appreciated her well wishes very much. I’m focused on winning in CD8 and then helping our Republican nominees to victory up and down the ballot in this critical state” https://t.co/YbLcAOik9s
— Libby Cathey (@libbycathey) March 20, 2024
Lake responded, “That’s a random question. I can’t even remember. I can’t even remember the last time I talked to him.” She added, “I haven’t even heard anything about if he’s even running, if he’s gotten the signatures. Has he made the ballot, yet, I’m not sure. We’ll find out.” Further distancing herself from the fracas, Lake said, “I don’t even know who’s really on the ballot for that. I’m supporting Abe Hamadeh for that congressional seat.”
Cathey followed up Lake’s comments with a quote from Masters: “Kari very kindly reached out to me after my son was born a few weeks ago — we had a nice exchange and I appreciated her well wishes very much. I’m focused on winning in CD8 and then helping our Republican nominees to victory up and down the ballot in this critical state.”
2 months old! pic.twitter.com/inuh3SWa4u
— Blake Masters (@bgmasters) February 9, 2024
Note: In addition to Hamadeh and Masters, there are an additional five candidates on the Republican 8th congressional district ballot. The deadline to file is April 1. The Arizona GOP primary will take place on July 30, 2024.