Endorsements are a dime a dozen during election seasons.
Former President Donald Trump is one of the few people whose endorsement can move the needle – whereas most don’t amount to much of anything.
But Blake Masters just secured a very rare endorsement that could swing his election.
One candidate down, one to go for Masters
Democrats Krysten Sinema and Mark Kelly are the two U.S. Senators from Arizona.
Sen. Kelly is running for re-election in the 2022 Midterms.
His chief opponent is MAGA Republican Blake Masters.
But Masters isn’t Kelly’s only opposition, or at least, he wasn’t.
While a host of hopefuls are running futile write-in campaigns, along with Kelly and Masters on the ballot is Libertarian Marc Victor.
In fact, despite being a non-factor in the polling, Victor was even invited to one of the race debates.
After resisting calls for him to get out of the race for months, Victor has finally decided to bow out.
The rare endorsement from an opponent
And on his way out of the contest, he’s thrown his support to Masters.
“At my invitation, Blake Masters and I had an unscripted, open, and recorded discussion and exchange of ideas on a variety of issues,” Victor said in a written statement. “That ranged from tax and economic policy to the Federal Reserve and same-sex marriage. I found Blake to be generally supportive of the Live and Let Live Global Peace Movement. Likewise, we found ourselves in general agreement about how to improve America and to advance the cause of freedom and peace. After that discussion, I believe it is in the best interests of freedom and peace to withdraw my candidacy and enthusiastically support Blake Masters for United States Senate. I intend to assist in any way reasonably possible to elect Blake.”
In the polls that bothered to include him, Victor has averaged about 3% support.
And it’s important to note, third-party candidates rarely live up to their polling numbers in the actual election.
But if Victor’s endorsement of Masters can garner the America First candidate even a half-point next Tuesday, it could end up making the difference in the margin Masters needs to defeat Kelly and flip the seat red.
And Arizona is one of the key races the GOP hopes to win in its bid to regain the majority in the U.S. Senate and make President Joe Biden a lame duck for the second half of his first term.
Masters vs. Kelly
After starting too far behind the incumbent, Masters has battled back to turn the race into a toss up.
Masters was down about 4.5-points in the RealClearPolitics average just two short weeks ago.
He’s cut that in half and now trails by only 2.3-points in the RCP average and all indicators show momentum is on his side on the home stretch.
Victor will have to wait until Tuesday, November 8 to know if his endorsement is enough to help put Masters over the top.