In Arizona, where Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly’s capacity to fend off late momentum from Trump-backed GOP nominee Blake Masters will be crucial to Democrats’ hopes of retaining their slim Senate majority, the conflict between election deniers and democracy defenders has played out in more vivid detail than anywhere else in the nation.
Kelly, a retired astronaut and the husband of former congresswoman Gabby Giffords, entered the race in an advantageous position as a formidable fundraiser with a personal brand that gave him bipartisan appeal in Arizona, where a third of voters are independents. Kelly is now running for a full six-year term.
However, President Joe Biden’s political fortunes have become more problematic due to the economic challenges that Democrats are facing and his poor approval ratings. On Tuesday, Republicans just need to gain one more seat than Democrats to take control of the Senate; Democrats are already in defensive positions in Nevada, Georgia, and New Hampshire.
Arizona has become one of the nation’s most crucial battleground states, not just for the Senate and governor races this year and perhaps the upcoming presidential election, but also because it is the centre of significant demographic shifts that are putting the reach of both parties to the test.
Some of the most dramatic moments in the conflict over the future of democracy have also taken place in the Grand Canyon state. The repeated partisan “audits” that ultimately confirmed Biden’s victory; the alarming scenes late last month of masked, activists — some of them armed — showing up to monitor and film voters at ballot drop boxes in an effort to stop widespread voter fraud — are a few examples (that has so far proved non-existent).
In that context, the race between Kelly, who won a special election in 2020 to take over Republican Sen. John McCain’s seat, and Masters, a venture entrepreneur who won his primary by endorsing Trump’s claims about the 2020 election, has taken place.
Masters is a political novice who struggled to raise money, but he was supported in the primary by his former employer, Peter Thiel, and has recently received support from Trump’s super PAC and the political arm of the Club for Growth after the Senate Leadership Fund, the party’s main super PAC, reduced its spending here to divert resources elsewhere. Additionally, he has formed a close relationship with Kari Lake, a charismatic former news anchor who is tied for first place with Katie Hobbs, the Democratic Secretary of State, in the race for governor. Kari Lake may be able to assist him win the election.
A New York Times/Siena College poll issued on Monday gave Kelly the advantage among likely voters, 51% to 45%, while a Fox News poll released on Tuesday showed no clear front-runner in the Senate race.
Barack Obama, the former president, swooped into Arizona this week to support Kelly and other Democrats, expressing concern that “democracy as we know it may not survive in Arizona” if candidates who reject the results of elections, such as Masters, Lake, and GOP Secretary of State nominee Mark Finchem, win on Tuesday.
Kelly has portrayed Masters’ opponent as a radical who would endanger Social Security, Medicare, abortion rights, and democracy itself. Masters dismisses Kelly’s accusations.
Kelly stated during the Obama event in Phoenix on Wednesday night that “Blake Masters has some opinions that are absolutely hazardous for Arizonans.” He is now contesting the outcomes of a vote that will take place in six days. Folks, this is hazardous.
