Blake Masters, running in the U.S. Senate race for Arizona, has raked in a staggering amount of $1,168,145 in fundraising, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings, surpassing his rivals in contributions to individual campaigns. The first three months of this year saw Masters receive a total of $700,000, which brought his total bank funds to $2,253,009.
The remainder of the Republican primary field was able to raise less than a million dollars. Attorney General Mark Brnovich raised a little over $735,000 but invested more ($974,269), meaning he has $528,960 cash in his bank account–much less than the amount he began the quarter of fundraising with, as per FEC filings.
Businessman Jim Lamon may be the best funded, but he's taken on the task of self-financing his political campaign. During the first quarter of this year, Lamon borrowed another $5 million, which brought the amount of self-funding to $13 million, according to FEC filings. When it comes to contributions from individuals, the amount he raised was $275,000, and he burned $4,039,616 over the same time, leaving him with $7.1 million in cash.
Mick McGuire, former head of the Arizona National Guard, only made $377,911 in personal contributions, but he also took out a loan of $750,000, as per the FEC documents. In the same time period, he spent $359,427 so is left with $993,961 in cash.
In the wake of Masters’ receiving greater than $1million in individual donations in just three months, his campaign manager, Amalia Halikias, informed an audience of supporters, “Honestly, it's…getting embarrassing for the other candidates… We have an Attorney General who is unable to even cover what he's spending. We've got a self-funder setting his money on fire. Blake's opponents let consultants take them on rides… Kelly is going to have well over $100 million in his war chest by November,” Halikias said, while admitting that the Democrat incumbent had raised the sum of $61.5 million during the initial three months. “Republicans need to win this seat back–fortunately, the smartest, strongest candidate has proven he can seriously fundraise.”
It is expected that the Arizona Republican primaries will take place on August 2, 2022.
