Republican Blake Masters, a former Arizona U.S. Senate candidate, announced Thursday he will be running for the state's 8th Congressional District seat to replace GOP Rep. Debbie Lesko, who will not be seeking a fourth term.
"I'm running for Congress, to fight for Arizona's 8th," Masters posted on X, formerly Twitter. "[President Joe] Biden has failed. We need [Donald] Trump back. We need to stop inflation, Build the Wall, avoid WW3, and secure Arizona's water future. We need to fight for our families."
Masters lost a bid to unseat Democrat incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly in 2020 (51.4%-46.5%) despite being heavily outspent by Kelly.
His bid sets up a competitive primary race as Republican Abe Hamadeh, who lost in the race for Arizona attorney general in 2022 by 280 votes, is also a candidate for the House seat.
Hamadeh was endorsed by Republican Kari Lake, who will be trying to unseat independent incumbent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema in 2024. Some thought Masters might try to challenge Lake in the GOP primary for the chance to face Sinema.
“Two men have announced their candidacy to represent Arizona’s 8th congressional district," a spokesperson for Lake's Senate campaign wrote in an email to Newsmax. "Sadly, only one of them had the courage to stay in the foxhole with Kari to expose the corruption in Maricopa County.
"Kari Lake is supporting the man that didn’t tuck his tail and run. She’s encouraging voters in the 8th district to do the same.”
Although the Republican primary between Masters and Hamadeh is likely to be competitive, the winner might not have much trouble retaining Lesko's seat, which includes many suburbs north and west of Phoenix in Maricopa County. Lesko ran unopposed in 2022, won with 59.6% of the vote in 2020, and 55.5% of the vote in 2018.