Masters considers another Arizona Senate bid, for Sinema seat, in possible GOP primary with Lake

Blake Masters is reportedly planning to run for Senate in Arizona again, this time for independent Sen. Krysten Sinema's seat after he lost to Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly last year in the critical swing state.

Masters, a Republican, has not filed campaign paperwork with the Federal Election Commission as of Thursday morning, but multiple people familiar with the matter told Politico that Masters may launch his bid as soon as next week.

Former gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, also a Republican, said earlier this month that she would make a decision by the end of the year about running for Senate. Her advisers have said she is expected to launch her Senate bid this fall, but some Republicans are skeptical that Masters and Lake would compete for the same seat.

Lake lost her election last year to then-Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, but she is still challenging the results, and she has since kept her name and face in the the public eye with numerous court challenges over the result. 

Arizona-based GOP strategist Barrett Marson said that when he spoke to Masters several months ago, the former Republican candidate had been waiting for Lake to decide whether she would enter the 2024 Senate race before he would decide to run.

"I think he is now under the impression that maybe Kari Lake isn’t going to run, because I’ll tell you if Lake and Blake are both in, he is wasting his time," Marson said. "They occupy the same lane. They have nearly the same name. And she has much better positive name ID among Republicans than Blake does."

Arizona's 2022 election results show Lake lost to Hobbs by more than 17,000 votes while Masters lost to incumbent Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly by more than 125,000 votes.

Meanwhile, the state's 2024 GOP Senate primary already has at least three declared candidates: Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, consultant George Nicholson and engineer Brian Wright.

Arizona Democrat Rep. Ruben Gallego is running for the state's Democratic Senate nomination, as is engineer Andrew Becerra.

Sinema, who left the Democratic Party in December, has filed the campaign paperwork for 2024 but she has not officially announced her bid.

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