According to a recent report from the Daily Beast, Arizona Republican Senate nominee Blake Masters is again instigating his unfounded theory that the election will be stolen from him — just as he believes the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump.
The report says that Masters shared a sentiment that he’d need to “win by 80,000 votes” in order to overcome widespread voter fraud in the November election. In June, Masters “publicly cast doubt on the upcoming November election” when he said the following about the 2020 election: “whatever their cheating capacity is, I’m pretty sure they pulled out all the stops… And the question is, will that happen again?”
The Daily Beast notes that Masters is not the only Republican nominee in Arizona pushing these election conspiracy theories. Mark Finchem, secretary of state nominee, “has premised his candidacy on the lie of a stolen election, causing widespread alarm about how he might handle the 2024 election if elevated to the position.”
The Daily Beast: Blake Masters Is Already Claiming His Election Will Be Stolen
By Sam Brodey | October 15, 2022
Key Points:
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“In his campaign to unseat Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Republican Blake Masters has consistently amplified skepticism and conspiracy theories surrounding the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. But during the final stretch of his own 2022 race, Masters is starting to cast doubt on the outcome of this election—before the votes are even counted.”
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“At a campaign stop on Tuesday in a small town north of Phoenix, Masters was confronted with one voter’s concern that he could win by a ‘landslide’ but that voting machines would ‘flip the vote’ in Kelly’s favor, according to audio of the event obtained by The Daily Beast.”
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“‘Unfortunately, we still have the machines in this election,’ Masters replied. The ‘machines’ refer to Dominion Voting Systems’ machines, which were used in Arizona and have been the subject of countless unfounded conspiracies. Maricopa County, home to Phoenix, used paper ballots in the 2020 election; audits found no evidence of fraud.”
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“Masters expanded on the voter’s concern by recounting a conversation he had with his father before launching his campaign. In Masters’ telling, his father said he didn’t want him to run because he couldn’t beat Kelly, because of voter fraud.”
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“The GOP hopeful’s comments on Tuesday mark at least the second time he has publicly cast doubt on the upcoming November election. In June, before his primary election, Masters told a crowd about 2020, ‘whatever their cheating capacity is, I’m pretty sure they pulled out all the stops… And the question is, will that happen again?’”
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“Like Georgia, Arizona has been at the forefront of 2020 election conspiracies and continues to produce Republican leaders who put fixation on Trump’s loss at the center of their political agenda. Mark Finchem, the GOP candidate for Secretary of State, has premised his candidacy on the lie of a stolen election, causing widespread alarm about how he might handle the 2024 election if elevated to the position.”
Read the full report here.
Published: Oct 17, 2022