Donald Trump and JD Vance Split on Race in Key State

Former President Donald Trump and his recently selected running mate, Senator JD Vance, have endorsed competing Republican candidates in the race for Arizona’s 8th Congressional District.

There is currently a six-way GOP primary race for the House seat, which is being vacated by retiring Representative Debbie Lesko. Arizona is considered to be one of the most important states in the 2024 election cycle, with two congressional seats, a Senate race, and its 11 electoral college votes all up for grabs in November.

Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential nominee, previously backed Abe Hamadeh for the 8th Congressional District seat in December, a close ally of controversial Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake and a 2022 candidate for the state’s attorney general.

Vance, however, endorsed venture capitalist Blake Masters in October 2023. Masters ran for Arizona’s Senate in 2022 with Trump’s backing but was beaten by Democratic Senator Mark Kelly.

Both candidates reshared their respective endorsements online in light of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this week. Masters shared a photo to X, formerly Twitter, of him standing with Vance outside one of Trump’s luxury hotels on Tuesday, writing along with the post, “Thrilled to be ENDORSED in my House race by our next Vice President, J.D. Vance!”

A few hours later, Hamadeh’s campaign on X shared a photo of the congressional candidate shaking hands with Trump, along with the caption, “.@AbrahamHamadeh is THRILLED to be ENDORSED in his House race by our next President, Donald J. Trump!”

Newsweek has reached out to the campaigns of Trump, Hamadeh and Masters for comment via email.

According to a report from The Arizona Republic, Masters and Hamadeh have been locked in a heated battle for their state’s 8th Congressional seat. Recent ads run by Masters’ campaign have repeatedly attacked Hamadeh’s religious and political beliefs, while Hamadeh’s team has accused his rival of being part of a nudist colony.

Both candidates have dismissed the others’ accusations. Hamadeh spokesperson Erica Knight previously told The Arizona Republic, “It’s sad that after being the worst performing Senate Candidate in the country in 2022, the ‘Blake Masters redemption tour’ takes its second try at dragging down the entire Republican ticket, not only by spreading falsehoods and vicious lies that go beyond the pale but also by denigrating the service of veterans who have actual ‘skin in the game.'”

Meanwhile, Ryan Girdusky, a spokesperson for Masters told the outlet that Hamadeh’s ads about Masters were false, “including that he was part of a vegan nudist colony and played on a women’s basketball team,” per the Arizona Republic’s report.

A recent poll found that Hamadeh has broken away from Masters and other GOP candidates ahead of Arizona’s July 30 primary. The survey, conducted by The Strategy Group Company between June 10 and 12, found that Hamadeh was backed by 30 percent of the 620 likely Republican primary voters surveyed. Masters earned 19 percent of the vote in the same poll.

Roughly a month prior, a survey by the National Pulse found Masters to hold nearly a double-digit lead over Hamadeh. Out of the 400 likely Republican primary voters surveyed between May 13 and 15, Masters was backed by 28 percent, compared to the 16 percent that supported Hamadeh.