{"id":1639852,"date":"2022-09-13T07:47:45","date_gmt":"2022-09-13T11:47:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1639852"},"modified":"2022-09-13T07:48:49","modified_gmt":"2022-09-13T11:48:49","slug":"heritage-action-steps-up-in-arizona-senate-race-after-mcconnell-pulls-8-million-from-masters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/heritage-action-steps-up-in-arizona-senate-race-after-mcconnell-pulls-8-million-from-masters\/","title":{"rendered":"Heritage Action Steps Up In Arizona Senate Race After McConnell Pulls $8 Million From Masters"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fheritage-action-steps-up-in-arizona-senate-race-after-mcconnell-pulls-8-million-from-masters%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1639852&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p>An independent super PAC aligned with Heritage Action for America, the political arm of the conservative Heritage Foundation, is pumping money into the Arizona Senate race amid near-total abandonment by Republican leadership in this highly competitive race amid a currently 50-50 Senate.. <\/p>\n<p>On Monday, the Sentinel Action Fund announced $5 million to support Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters in the form of voter outreach efforts and television ad buys after Minority Leader Mitch McConnell\u2019s Senate Leadership Fund (SLF) pulled $8 million from the contest. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe wanted to be there from a conservative standpoint,\u201d said Jessica Anderson, the president of the Sentinel Action Fund, highlighting the group\u2019s spending in Arizona, and Masters in particular, as a \u201cclarion call for the conservative movement to come and support this candidate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While the group has also announced efforts to get involved with pivotal Senate races in Nevada and Georgia, Anderson emphasized \u201c$5 million is so far our largest single expenditure that we have planned.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>In the final week of August, McConnell\u2019s super PAC <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2022\/08\/26\/mcconnell-senate-arizona-alaska\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">canceled <\/a>nearly $8 million in ad buys for Arizona and demanded private entrepreneur and megadonor Peter Thiel step in to replace the lost funding. The money initially set aside for Masters will instead go to support J.D. Vance in Ohio. <\/p>\n<p>Both Masters and Vance, who worked for Thiel prior to jumping into crowded Senate primaries, were backed by the billionaire venture capitalist with $15 million each during the party contests. McConnell is now <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2022\/08\/31\/peter-thiel-mcconnell-blake-masters\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">demanding <\/a>more money from Thiel, who has yet to spend on either in the general, to push the candidates across the November finish line. <\/p>\n<p>The McConnell super PAC is driving more money from the Arizona Senate race, where Masters is down by 4 points in the RealClearPolitics <a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpolitics.com\/epolls\/2022\/senate\/az\/arizona-senate-masters-vs-kelly-7390.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">aggregate <\/a>of polls, to Ohio, where <a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpolitics.com\/epolls\/2022\/senate\/oh\/ohio_senate_vance_vs_ryan-7624.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">polls show<\/a> Vance up by more than 2. In August, polling from the most reliable pollster of recent election cycles, the Trafalgar Group, showed Masters down by 4 points with Vance up by 5.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMcConnell told Thiel over the phone last week that Vance\u2019s race in Ohio was proving more costly for the Senate Leadership Fund than anticipated,\u201d the Washington Post reported on Aug. 31. McConnell added \u201cthat money was not unlimited and that there was a need for the billionaire to \u2018come in, in a big way, in Arizona,&#8217;\u201d an anonymous \u201cperson familiar with the conversation\u201d reportedly told the Post.<\/p>\n<p>Campaign finance data and recent electoral trends in each state, however, cast doubt on McConnell\u2019s claims that Vance was in more desperate need of funds than Masters.<\/p>\n<p>Former President Donald Trump carried Ohio comfortably by 8 points in both 2016 and 2020. Trump captured Arizona\u2019s 11 electoral votes in 2016 by less than 4 points, and lost the state in 2020. Arizona\u2019s two Senate seats also became filled by two Democrats for the first time <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/List_of_United_States_senators_from_Arizona\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">since 1953<\/a> in 2020. <\/p>\n<p>Data from OpenSecrets further shows Masters <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opensecrets.org\/races\/summary?cycle=2022&amp;id=AZS1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">outraised <\/a>by incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly 10 to 1, compared to Vance who has been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opensecrets.org\/races\/summary?cycle=2022&amp;id=OHS2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">outraised <\/a>by Ohio Democrat Rep. Tim Ryan nearly 6 to 1.<\/p>\n<p>McConnell\u2019s decision to pull $8 million from Masters drew <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/09\/01\/mcconnell-sounds-like-he-wants-to-abandon-a-ship-rick-scott-wants-to-captain\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">criticism <\/a>from Senate rivals who called out the Republican leader for aiming to <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/08\/30\/yes-mitch-mcconnell-would-rather-lose-the-senate-than-his-leadership-status\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">re-elect a minority<\/a> the Kentucky lawmaker can control as opposed to a fractured majority. Masters pledged during the Arizona Republican Senate debate not to back McConnell for another term at the top of GOP leadership. In August, McConnell <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/08\/19\/come-on-mitch-mcconnell-republicans-need-you-to-step-up-and-lead\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">complained <\/a>about candidate quality among his own party going into the fall midterms. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think there\u2019s probably a greater likelihood the House flips than the Senate. Senate races are just different, they\u2019re statewide, candidate quality has a lot to do with the outcome,\u201d McConnell said on Fox News. <\/p>\n<p>McConnell attempted to pre-emptively foil criticism over Arizona spending by also taking an axe to planned ads for Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a key Senate ally who faces a tough challenge from Trump-endorsed Kelly Tshibaka. Tshibaka has also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kellyforak.com\/post\/kelly-tshibaka-statement-on-mitch-mcconnell\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">promised <\/a>not to support McConnell for another term in leadership. <\/p>\n<p>McConnell canceled about $1.7 million in the relatively inexpensive Alaskan media market, although Murkowski maintains a steep financial advantage over the rest of the field with more than $9 million raised to Tshibaka\u2019s less than $3.5 million, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opensecrets.org\/races\/summary?cycle=2022&amp;id=AKS2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">according <\/a>to OpenSecrets. Murkowski is also running with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opensecrets.org\/races\/summary?cycle=2022&amp;id=AKS2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">incumbent advantage <\/a>amid a new system of ranked-choice voting. <\/p>\n<p>Days after McConnell pulled ad spending on Masters in Arizona, Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/09\/01\/rick-scott-savages-mitch-mcconnell-for-trying-to-sabotage-gop-senate-races\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">blasted <\/a>the minority leader in the Washington Examiner. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have great candidates with incredible backgrounds and ideas to make our country better,\u201d Scott wrote. \u201cDo I wish they had more money than their Democratic opponent? Of course. But we have great candidates, chosen by the voters in their states, and our job is to help each one of them win.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Last week, McConnell <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2022\/09\/07\/mitch-mcconnell-blake-masters-bury-feud-second-fundraiser\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">attempted <\/a>an effort at capitulation by announcing he would attend a second fundraiser for Masters sometime in September. Showing up to an event, however, is far from the same as putting $8 million into a competitive race. <\/p>\n<p>Anderson made clear during her interview with The Federalist that the seven-figure bid to bolster Masters in Arizona was not a response to McConnell\u2019s decision to strip spending. <\/p>\n<p>\u201c[The] announcement today is a response to grassroots activists with the Sentinel,\u201d Anderson said, emphasizing Arizona has always been on their map. <\/p>\n<p>In July, the Sentinel Action Fund <a href=\"https:\/\/press.sentinelactionfund.com\/press\/new-400-000-ad-slams-mark-kelly-for-aiding-bidens-gas-price-disaster\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ran <\/a>a $400,000 ad campaign that attacked Kelly\u2019s embrace of President Joe Biden\u2019s energy agenda fueling record-high gas prices.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think we were created for moments like this when the party is divided on who to support. We can come in and support the conservative candidate who is going to come in and lead the state\u2019s voters,\u201d Anderson added. <\/p>\n<p>The $5 million-dollar campaign dump is a likely relief to grassroots Republicans aiming to bring down Kelly and flip the Senate.  <\/p>\n<p>\u201cJessica Anderson and her team at Heritage Action have built a serious and formidable operation and are making the right call by investing in Blake Masters,\u201d Terry Schilling, the president of the conservative American Principles Project, told The Federalist. \u201cBlake is one of the few politicians who will actually deliver for families and it\u2019s why groups like American Principles Project and Heritage are each pledging 7-figure investments to help him get elected. This election will be the \u2018Revenge of the Parents.\u2019 Anti-family Democrats should be very worried.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at Tristan@thefederalist.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An independent super PAC aligned with Heritage Action for America, the political arm of the conservative Heritage Foundation, is pumping money into the Arizona Senate race amid near-total abandonment by<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":494,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1639852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1639852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/494"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1639852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1639852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1639852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1639852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1639852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}