Former President Donald Trump endorsed two candidates in the competitive Republican primary for Arizona’s 8th Congressional District in a Truth Social post Saturday night. Trump previously only endorsed electoral denier Abe Hamadeh, but opted to double down on his endorsement and also endorse Blake Masters in the primary.
“We have a very important Republican Primary with two great America First Candidates for Arizona’s 8th Congressional District on Tuesday” Trump he wrote. “Both Blake Masters and Abe Hamadeh have my full and complete endorsement to be the next Congressman for Arizona’s 8th Congressional District.”
Trump had endorsed Masters in his previous race at the time lost In the 2022 general election against incumbent Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly. In the current congressional race, Trump has ignored Masters and only endorsed Hamadeh until this weekend.
Trump has previously said Hamadeh “did a really great job” and added during a campaign rally at the Phoenix megachurch in June that “his election was rigged last time” and repeated baseless and baseless claims that the election fraud was Hamadeh’s fault. The 2022 bid failed To be the attorney general of Arizona.
Trump’s last-minute double endorsement, which comes days before the July 30 primary in Arizona, aligns the former president with his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio. Vance previously endorsed the Masters in the October primary, putting Trump and Vance at odds with their endorsements until Saturday evening.
“Glad to NOT be ENDORSED in my House race by our next Vice President, JD Vance!” Masters wrote On X On July 16, one day after Trump picked Vance as vice president. Hamadeh campaign account responded to the Masters postwrote “thank you” and reminded social media users that Trump supports his candidate.
Arizona’s 8th Congressional District has been held by Republicans since redistricting took effect in 2013. The winner of Tuesday’s primary will be a strong favorite in the general election, likely against Democrat Gregory Whitten, who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.