Some help from a billionaire GOP megadonor could soon be on the way for Senate Republicans rocked by abating cash reserves in their campaign arm.
Peter Thiel will host a fundraiser for Arizona Senate hopeful Blake Masters later this month, CNBC reported.
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The fundraiser is slated for Sept. 30 at his home in California, with tickets ranging from $1,500 to $11,600 a couple, according to the report.
Throughout the primary cycle, Thiel embarked on a considerable multimillion-dollar spending spree to buoy his preferred GOP primary candidates such as Masters in Arizona and J.D. Vance in Ohio.
But over recent months, Thiel’s donations to political action committees backing Masters and others have dwindled, and he has not yet donated to Republicans facing a general election showdown with a Democrat, much to the chagrin of Senate Republicans, according to the report.
After Vance crossed the finish line and began shifting gears to the general election, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called Thiel and asked him to continue chucking cash at Vance in the general, but Thiel balked, the Washington Post reported.
Months later, after Masters clinched the Republican nod in Arizona, McConnell declined to call Thiel, and the Senate Leadership Fund subsequently scrapped roughly $8 million worth of ads booked for Masters, setting up a “game of chicken” between the duo, the outlet added.
Thiel reportedly confided in associates of his that he did not intend to unleash much more of his fiscal firepower during the midterm elections and merely wanted to prop up younger Republicans in the party instead of squaring off against Democrats.
Republicans have been yearning for a campaign windfall from Thiel as their National Republican Senatorial Committee war chest has dried up in recent weeks amid amped-up spending earlier in the midterm cycle. Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), who heads the NRSC, defended his stewardship over the Senate campaign arm, arguing the early spending was needed to bolster candidates.
Masters is massively outflanked by his rival Sen. Mark Kelly (R-AZ), having raised $4.9 million compared to Kelly’s $54 million, according to the report. He is also trailing Kelly by about 3.3 points, according to the latest RealClearPolitics polling aggregate.
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Given the 50-50 split in the Senate, each party only needs to net one seat to gain power.
