Allies during the 2022 cycle, the two men aggressively targeted each other this time around.
A fraternal battle among Arizona Republicans has ended, with Abe Hamadeh defeating Blake Masters in the primary for the GOP-friendly Eighth Congressional District.
“They underestimated me because they underestimate the American people. We are stronger than they can ever even imagine,” Hamadeh wrote on X on July 31.
“Congratulations to Abe Hamadeh. It’s time to unite behind him and all of our nominees, up and down the ballot, so that we can win in November,” Masters wrote on X in a post conceding to his chief rival.
While polls closed in Arizona on July 30 at 7 p.m. local time, the race wasn’t called by The Associated Press until 5:27 p.m. on July 31.
Former President Donald Trump, who previously endorsed Hamadeh in the race, backed both Masters and Hamadeh in a Truth Social post on July 27.
“They will both be spectacular,” Trump wrote.
Masters’s campaign website highlights an endorsement from Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio). That came in autumn of 2023, long before Vance was tapped as Trump’s running mate. Both Masters and Vance were mentored by venture capitalist Peter Thiel.
In 2022, the two pro-Trump Republicans effectively ran alongside each other and Kari Lake, another well-known Arizonan.
A November 2022 Instagram post from Hamadeh, then a candidate for attorney general, urged voters to support Masters for Senate and Kari Lake for governor. Lake, who won the Republican primary for Senate on July 30, threw her support behind Hamadeh this cycle.
“I am so proud to have endorsed Abe, and I will be even more proud to serve with him in Washington D.C.,” Lake wrote on X after the Eighth District contest was called.
Both Hamadeh and Masters lost their 2022 races, two of many GOP casualties in the predicted “Red Wave” cycle that wasn’t. While Masters quickly conceded to Sen. Mark Kelly (R-Ariz.), Hamadeh and his allies challenged a much narrower loss to Attorney General Kris Mayes through the court system.
This time around, the seat currently occupied by Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.), who is retiring, was hotly contested by the two Republican hopefuls along with other influential Arizona politicos.
Arizona Speaker of the House Ben Toma was another GOP contender. He took 21.2 percent of the vote with 86 percent counted.
Trent Franks, who formerly represented the district in the House, also ran in the Republican race, as did Arizona state Sen. Anthony Kern and Patrick James Briody. Franks had 16.5 percent with 86 percent counted, while Kern had 4.7 percent and Briody had 2.3 percent at the same point.
Federal elections data show that Masters has significantly outraised and outspent his GOP rival. Outside spending has also favored the venture capitalist.
One pro-Masters ad from the American Principles Project, a pro-Masters SuperPAC, highlighted Hamadeh’s Muslim background, broadcasting an image of the former Maricopa County prosecutor on hajj, the traditional Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca.
At a rally for Lake in Goodyear, Arizona, on July 27, Bill Brettner registered his disapproval of that messaging in an interview with The Epoch Times.
“I didn’t appreciate what he did,” said Brettner, whose roles in local GOP circles include service as a Republican Party of Arizona state delegate from legislative district 23.
Post-race, Masters wrote, “For me, now, it’s back to business, and helping in any way I can to get Donald J. Trump back in the White House.”