Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will attend a fundraiser for Arizona Republican Blake Masters later in September, a source familiar with the scheduling told the Daily Caller.
McConnell attended a similar fundraiser for Masters Tuesday evening, where the two Republicans had a “good meeting,” the source said. The planning represents a hatchet-burying for the GOP Senate leader and the ex-venture capitalist. McConnell and other top Republicans have reportedly worried at length about numbers showing Masters trailing incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly in both fundraising and polling.
The Masters campaign did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller’s request for comment for this story.
Masters continuously blasted McConnell during a fractured Republican primary, promising not to support him for Majority Leader if Republicans take back the Senate. Instead, Masters proposed Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley or Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton as leaders of the Republican Conference, although he acknowledged that McConnell would likely return for a ninth term atop the GOP.
“He’s not bad at everything. He’s good at judges. He’s good at blocking Democrats. You know what he’s not good at? Legislating,” Masters said during a primary debate. (RELATED: ‘Step In And Protect Life’: Blake Masters Says Rolling Back Roe v. Wade Isn’t Good Enough)
Masters has softened his tone during the general election cycle, however. He told the Associated Press that he “hope[s McConnell] does come in,” and that the two would “find a way to work together.”
For his part, McConnell and his allies have taken a series of thinly-veiled shots at Masters’ fundraising and campaign acumen. The Senate Leadership Fund (SLF), a Super PAC associated with McConnell, canceled $8 million in ad buys in Arizona in late August. The group redirected the money to support JD Vance in Ohio, which SLF President Steven Law termed “an unexpected expense.” SLF did not include Arizona in an $18.4 million tranche of ads reported Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission.
NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 01: Peter Thiel, Partner, Founders Fund speaks onstage during the 2018 New York Times Dealbook on November 1, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Cohen/Getty Images for The New York Times)
Instead, McConnell and other top Republicans have reportedly urged billionaire tech entrepreneur and top GOP donor Peter Thiel to put his own money behind Masters and Vance. Masters worked as Chief Operating Officer of Thiel Capital before stepping down to run for Senate, and Vance and Thiel co-founded the venture capital fund Narya Capital.
Thiel donated $15 million apiece during the primaries to Super PACs supporting Masters and Vance, but has not given money to either during the general election cycle. Masters trails Kelly by nearly $50 million in funds raised, and the Saving Arizona PAC has doled out only $224,000 on anti-Kelly expenditures. By comparison, the PAC spent nearly $3.75 million opposing Masters’ primary opponents, Jim Lamon and Mark Brnovich, according to OpenSecrets.
Thiel also lobbied former President Donald Trump to endorse both Masters and Vance. The two candidates emerged out of fractured primary fields after the former president announced his support.
