Vice President Mike Pence has so far not supported any candidates who regularly speak out against President Donald Trump, no matter how endangered they are. The aim is to actively support those who actively support the president. | Alex Wong || Getty Images
By Ronald J. Hansen || The Arizona Republic
After a strong debate performance last week and a hearty endorsement from former President Donald Trump, Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters completed what amounted to a campaign sweep intended to consolidate support from every reachable voter.Flanked on Tuesday by former Vice President Mike Pence and Gov. Doug Ducey, Masters nominally discussed the importance of school choice at a low-key media event at the Hilton Phoenix Resort at the Peak.
More importantly, Masters stood with two Republicans who appeal to more conventional conservatives less enamored with Trump’s bombast and controversies. In brief remarks, Pence and Ducey talked about inflation, crime, school choice and the border. They didn’t talk about abortion rights.
It was a message meant for Republican stragglers and suburban women, demographic blocs crucial to Masters’ effort to oust Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.
Trump in Arizona:Former President Trump returns for a rally to support Lake, Masters
“Frankly, as the people of Arizona saw in that debate just earlier this week, Blake Masters is one of the brightest stars in the Republican Party in America, and he will be a leader on Day One in a new Republican majority in Washington, D.C.,” Pence said.
“This country is in a lot of trouble. The people of Arizona and the people of the United States know it’s time for a change.”
Ducey suggested that was beginning to happen.
“We all see this race now is tightening,” he said. “Blake has the momentum, and the reason that Blake is going to win is because he is the one who is going to push back on the Biden policies that have inflation raging.”
Blake Masters, the GOP U.S. Senate candidate in Arizona, holds a press conference with Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and former Vice President Mike Pence at a school choice event on Oct. 11, 2022.
On Tuesday, Masters spoke in more measured terms about the nation under Trump.
