Column: In Arizona, fears that yet another flawed candidate may cost GOP control of Senate

When Republicans sought a candidate to take on Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, a prime target this election season, the obvious choice was Doug Ducey, the state’s accomplished and relatively popular two-term governor. The result was a venomous GOP primary and a nominee, Blake Masters, whose provocative statements and problematic stances — on abortion, Social Security, former President Trump’s election lies — greatly enhance Kelly’s prospects and undercut Republican hopes of flipping a seat vital to control of the 50-50 Senate. In New Hampshire, which holds its primary Sept. 13, the GOP front-runner is Don Bolduc, a retired Army general, anti-vaxxer and Trump acolyte, who, among other choice comments, described Confederate monuments as “symbols of hope.” When Republicans were counting on a massive red wave, the roster of fringy and foolhardy candidates didn’t matter quite so much, as a strong tide can buoy even the worst political prospects. As Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell dryly observed, “Candidate quality has a lot to do with the outcome.” In Arizona, one of the country’s most competitive states, the neophyte Masters benefited not just from Trump’s endorsement but from a $15-million infusion from Masters’ former boss, Peter Thiel, the Silicon Valley billionaire and conservative libertarian. As one Republican strategist put it, “The guy who had a steady hand on the controls of the Space Shuttle is hard to pigeonhole as someone who’s going to go off half-cocked.” Kelly, 58, has long braced for a tough fight — he won narrowly in 2020, when he was elected to serve the remainder of the late John McCain’s term — and has vastly outraised Masters.