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Blake Masters<\/strong>, the far-right venture capitalist who ran and lost in a 2022 Senate election in Arizona, is having second thoughts about trying and potentially failing for a second time, The Daily Beast<\/em> reported<\/a> Sunday.<\/p>\n Toward the end of August, multiple outlets reported that Masters was virtually guaranteed to enter the race. An Arizona-based GOP strategist who\u2019d spoken to Masters told<\/a> Politico that he was \u201cpretty decisively in.\u201d Now\u2014not so much.<\/p>\n \u201cSources close to Masters are doubting whether he will go through with a campaign,\u201d especially if it pits him against former Arizona gubernatorial candidate and election fabulist Kari Lake<\/strong>, who is also close to throwing her hat into the ring, according to the Daily Beast. \u201cThe consensus within Arizona GOP circles was that Masters is a lot further from jumping in than it may have seemed,\u201d according to the report.<\/p>\n Lake and Masters ran on far-right \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d platforms in 2022, often appearing together at events. Though both lost their elections, Lake significantly outperformed<\/a> Masters, garnering nearly 100,000 more votes.<\/p>\n Masters\u2019 reluctance may have something to do with the tepid response news of a possible run has gotten in GOP circles. On Friday, The New York Times<\/em> reported<\/a> on a phone call between Masters and former President Donald Trump<\/strong> on September 1, just days after The Wall Street Journal<\/em> reported<\/a> that Masters was planning on entering the race. The MAGA leader reportedly told Masters he didn\u2019t think he could win a primary matchup against Lake.<\/p>\n Masters campaigned hard to get Trump\u2019s endorsement in 2022, but Trump lashed out when Masters failed to embrace the former president\u2019s election lies during an October 2022 debate. Trump called him and told him he needed \u201cto go stronger on that one thing\u201d before comparing him unfavorably with Lake. \u201cAnd if they say, \u2018How is your family?\u2019 [Lake] says, \u2018The election was rigged and stolen,\u2019\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n Trump, who is currently leading in the GOP race for the White House, isn\u2019t the only prominent GOP figure who\u2019s appeared lukewarm about a second Masters Senate bid.<\/p>\n Missouri Senator Josh Hawley<\/strong>, whom Masters has described as the senator he most agrees with, told<\/a> Business Insider last week that he would be \u201creally surprised\u201d if the MAGA defender jumped into the race. Ohio Senator J.D. Vance<\/strong>, a fellow beneficiary of campaign funding from far-right billionaire Peter Thiel<\/strong> in 2022, also declined to say whether he\u2019d endorse Masters, as did Senators Lindsey Graham<\/strong> and Ted Cruz,<\/strong> who both campaigned for Masters during the 2022 election cycle.<\/p>\n \u201cSeems like a nice guy\u201d was about as much as Graham could muster.<\/p>\n Whether Lake and Masters enter the race will have significant implications for the swing-state election to unseat current Senator Kyrsten Sinema<\/strong>, the formerly-Democratic-turned-independent politician who is deeply unpopular<\/a> in her home state.<\/p>\n Sinema has not yet announced whether she\u2019ll be running for reelection, though she has filed paperwork to do so and has been fundraising aggressively<\/a>. Democratic Representative Ruben Gallego<\/strong> announced<\/a> his bid in January, while Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb<\/strong> announced<\/a> in April that he was running for the Republican nomination.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n