Blake Masters and Abraham Hamadeh, who unsuccessfully ran in 2022 for the Senate and to be the state’s attorney general, respectively, are now facing off against each other for the Republican nomination there.
It’s easy to see why they both covet the slot. The incumbent Republican congresswoman, Rep. Debbie Lesko, won reelection with 96.5% of the vote in the same year the Masters and Hamadeh lost.
But even still, Masters’s latest ad demonstrated his willingness to take his gloves off in pursuit of victory, which has proven elusive to him.
“What does dishonest Abe Hamadeh believe?” asks the ad’s narrator as a picture of Hamadeh with minarets in the background is shown onscreen. He continues:
Did you know Abe Hamadeh was an anchor baby?
— Blake Masters War Room (@MastersPress) April 3, 2024
He was born to parents who were in America illegally after overstaying visas.
Is that why he supported amnesty and birthright citizenship?🤔
We will tell #AZ08 the truth: https://t.co/ju5SB3nAEM
pic.twitter.com/rBtyTmABst
Reacting to the ad, Hamadeh posted a clip from the 2012 comedy The Campaign, featuring Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis, in which one candidate contemplates running an ad comparing his opponent to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban because he has facial hair.
😂 @bgmasters & his consultants right now. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/WdIBqhoy8f
— Abe Hamadeh (@AbrahamHamadeh) April 3, 2024