Rep. Austin Smith Profile picture
Dec 20, 2022 20 tweets 5 min read Read on X
I wanted to wait to share a story about the guy Blake Masters and the implications of the US Senate race in AZ until the right time. I believe now is. Image
I started following him on Twitter a couple years ago and knew very little about his story. I had never met the guy before but every so often we would like each others tweets. As the 2020 cycle went on McSally vs Kelly, I never had confidence McSally would win.
Gov Ducey’s appointment of McSally to the Senate after her loss to Sinema was one of the biggest political blunders in our states history. The voters rejected Martha - a candidate preferred by the establishment and moderate Republicans. The appointment handed the seat to the Dems
It was very frustrating to see this all unfold as someone who interacts with Republicans of all stripes in AZ & across the country. We all worked hard and coalesced behind Martha to get her elected.
Fast forward to Jan 2021 I got a message from Blake. I really appreciated him reaching out to get some perspective about running for Senate in AZ. He knew I was a grassroots guy and wanted insight to what we want out of a Republican Senator that could sit in Goldwater’s seat. Image
Blake expressed his interest in running and I told him he was crazy for wanting to run but he would be a great senator. Arizona politics is a different beast, several different factions within the party and a group of swing voters that can be hard to predict in the valley.
Blake announced and I was delighted to sign his petition and would be excited to vote for him in the primary. But after the debacle that was Covid lockdowns in AZ in 2020 I prayed about running for the Arizona legislature. I monitored the AZ IRC closely and waited for the new map
I expressed to Blake I was considering running and wanted his perspective as he wanted mine. We need young conservatives to run for office now more than ever at all levels of gov. He encouraged me to run and was on board from day one. Even helping write my announcement video.
As a young person running for office it takes an extreme amount of effort to build name ID and raise money. Within days of announcing my campaign, Blake max donated to my campaign without me asking. The only max donor I had in the 2022 cycle. I’ll never forget that! Image
Blake buckled down and earned the support of our party in the August primary after a brutal summer with great candidates like Justin Olson, Jim Lamon and Mick McGuire who are 10x better than Kelly wouldn’t sell out our country.
As the general election came around all of us were aware that this was going to be one of if not the toughest Senate election in state history but I believed Blake was up to the task. He earned the support of the base and his former primary opponents. We coalesced behind Blake.
He even did so much as to get Gov Ducey to endorse him and support his campaign. A move needed to win this race in AZ with swing voters. Blake did it right to get the Republican Party of AZ behind him. But it takes more than that to take down Kelly.
Rick Scott came to campaign but nobody in AZ cares who he is. Some other senators came through too but nobody cares for them. We saw the NRSC ads attacking Kelly sometimes and the war chest being spent to attack Blake by the left and media. Mitch McConnell was MIA.
The GOP establishment in DC abandoned Blake Masters for dead because he was not part of their consultant class approved candidate. They cared more about vendetta’s than the country. Blake was Arizona Republicans choice not theirs and we should despise them forever for it.
Blake went to every event across Maricopa County and the state he could. I saw this man bust his tail to beat a guy that is selling out Arizona under the guise of being a bipartisan senator. It’s evil and disgusting. Our country is worse off now because of DC letting this happen.
His team, the state party, the county parties, YR’s, TP Action, busted their tails working to elect him on all fronts. This loss lands squarely on the turtle of the senate who didn’t lift a finger to help Blake in any meaningful way. They let the left lie about him at every turn
I will not be one of those guys who casts a candidate to the side after one loss. You are intellectually and politically bankrupt to think Blake Masters cannot win this state or a congressional seat. I hope he sticks around and runs for something again.
If we do not elect young conservatives to Congress who understand and comprehend the big tech issue we are doomed as a nation. That’s the reality. If you think otherwise then you might as well be controlled opposition with the way our country is going.
Blake Masters is a leader in our movement now and one that doesn’t come around often to aggressively fight the left in their own backyard. Blake is that guy. He has set the bar high for us young guys to reach and think beyond traditional means to win this country back.
I am forever grateful for what Blake has done and will be the first in line to sign his next petition, endorse, fundraise, door knock and vote for him.

Thank you, Blake.

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More from @azaustinsmith

Feb 3, 2023
Here are the politicians and liberal activists working to bring Rank Choice Voting to Arizona:

RCV is designed to kill your vote so the elite political professionals pick your leaders. ImageImageImageImage
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Read 4 tweets

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