Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is set to fundraise for Arizona’s Republican U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters on Wednesday.
Teddy Schleifer with Puck News tweeted an invitation to a Blake Masters for U.S. Senate fundraiser with McConnell listed as a “Special Guest.” The event is set for 5:00 p.m. Wednesday and Schleifer noted it will be hosted in Washington, DC.
Wednesday’s fundraiser is significant, considering the McConnell-backed Super PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund, pulled millions in advertising for Masters’s race in August and reportedly pressured billionaire Peter Thiel to spend for the candidate. As Breitbart News noted:
A McConnell-backed super PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund, is making important decisions about which Republican swing state Senate candidates will receive much-needed campaign funds. The PAC is led by Steven Law, McConnell’s former chief of staff.
According to Politico, last week, the McConnell-backed super PAC canceled about $8 million worth of ad buys in Arizona, where Blake Masters is in a right race with Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly. The incumbent leads Masters by about five points, August polling revealed. Peter Thiel, MAGA billionaire investor, is trying to convince the fund to recommit money to the race.
“McConnell told Thiel over the phone last week that Vance’s race in Ohio was proving more costly for the Senate Leadership Fund than anticipated, that money was not unlimited and that there was a need for the billionaire to ‘come in, in a big way, in Arizona,’” the Washington Post reported Wednesday.
The fundraiser also comes as a super PAC called the Sentinal Action Fund, which is partnered with Heritage Action for America organization, pledged last week to spend $5 million in the race, as Politico’s Natalie Allison reported.
“The effort will spend $3.5 million on TV ads and $1.5 million on voter outreach through a state-of-the-art voter ground game,” a press release from the Sentinel Action Fund stated.
“Arizona is the center of the fight for America’s soul,” said Jessica Anderson, the super PAC’s president and executive director of Heritage Action for America. “It is time for every corner of the conservative coalition to deploy every resource to win the Senate and show up to support our conservative candidates like Blake Masters.”