Libertarian candidate drops out, endorses Blake Masters for Arizona Senate


Marc Victor, the Libertarian candidate running for Arizona Senate, dropped out of the race Tuesday and endorsed Republican Blake Masters, offering the GOP nominee a key "lift heading into the final week" of the 2022 midterms, The New York Times reports.
The backing from Victor "is another major boost of momentum as we consolidate our support," Masters, who is challenging incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly (D), told the Times.
"I've said from the very beginning that the reason I'm running for Senate is to promote and get us in the direction of freedom and peace and civility," Victor said in a YouTube video detailing his endorsement, per Fox News. Masters "really is — in his heart and in his mind — he's in favor of doing everything he can to get us very sternly, very smartly in the direction of 'live and let live.' And that seems like a good tradeoff to me."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Masters and Victor spoke on the phone for roughly 20 minutes on Monday. Victor had notably "made such a conversation a precondition to quitting, technically offering such an opportunity both to [Masters] and to [Kelly]," the Times writes. The Libertarian candidate was polling at just 1 percent, according to the most recent New York Times/Siena College poll released Monday.
Early voting is already underway in Arizona, where Kelly is currently leading Masters by 3 points, per FiveThirtyEight's updating polling average.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
-
Biden slams Trump's Social Security cuts
Speed Read In his first major public address since leaving office, Biden criticized the Trump administration's 'damage' and 'destruction'
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
El Salvador refuses to return US deportee
Speed Read President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador said he would not send back the unlawfully deported Kilmar Ábrego García
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Trump says electronics tariff break won't last
Speed Read The tariff exemptions on smartphones, laptops and other electronic devices are temporary, the administration says
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Man charged in arson attack on Pennsylvania's Shapiro
Speed Read Governor Josh Shapiro and his family were sleeping when someone set fire to his Harrisburg mansion
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
White House pushes for oversight of Columbia University
Speed Read The Trump administration is considering placing the school under a consent decree
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
Supreme Court backs wrongly deported migrant
Speed Read The Trump administration must 'facilitate' the return of wrongfully deported migrant Kilmar Ábrego García from El Salvador, Supreme Court says
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Two judges bar war-powers deportations
Speed Read The Trump administration was blocked from using the Alien Enemies Act to deport more alleged Venezuelan gang members
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Trump pauses some tariffs but ramps up China tax
Speed Read The president suspended most 'reciprocal' tariffs for 90 days and raised his tariffs for China to 125%
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US