From left, Mark Brnovich, Mick McGuire and Blake Masters, GOP candidates for U.S. Senate /Facebook Photos
By Ronald J. Hansen |Arizona Republic
Arizona’s Republican Senate candidates took turns hitting each other’s backgrounds Thursday, but the sharpest blows landed on Blake Masters over his support from billionaire Peter Thiel and his ties to Facebook.
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich accused Masters of being “beholden to an industry.” Former solar power executive Jim Lamon alluded to Thiel spending $13 million to help Masters and made a similar point.
“Do we really need that to buy a seat for Arizona from California?” Lamon asked. “The last thing we need to take on Big Tech is somebody from Big Tech.”
For his part, Masters defended himself as someone who understands technology companies and welcomes financial support from the kind of people who can help defeat Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.
“I think to have a prayer at taking on Big Tech, you should actually put someone in the Senate who understands it,” he said. “I’ve made restraining Big Tech a central pillar of my campaign.”
Blake Masters speaks to a crowd of Republican voters at the party’s primary debate for the U.S Senate in Phoenix on June 23, 2022.
Thiel sat on the board of Facebook until last month after concluding the tech company was monopolistic. Many conservatives see tech companies like Google, Twitter and Facebook as shutting out their views.
While Masters was defensive about the hits on his ties to Thiel from his opponents, Brnovich was visibly pained by the audience at one point.
Some in the crowd at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix heckled Brnovich as he defended his office’s work to protect against election fraud, the issue that led former President Donald Trump to recently endorse Masters and rip Brnovich. Brnovich responded angrily.
“Please respect me and let me finish my answer,” he said. “If the truth hurts, then just shut the hell up, all right?” he said, drawing cheers from those supporting him.
