Senate Democratic group targets Blake Masters over Social Security

Senate Democrats’ campaign arm released a new ad on Monday attacking Arizona Republican Senate nominee Blake Masters’s comments about Social Security during a primary debate in June.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s (DSCC) ad, titled “Privatize,” claims Masters would privatize Social Security, a position he floated during the primary before backing away from the idea last month.

“Blake Masters wants to cut taxes for billionaires,” the ad begins. “And to pay for it? He said he’d cut our Social Security and privatize it.”

The spot goes on to play a clip from a June 23 debate during the primary contest.

“Right? Maybe we should privatize Social Security?” Masters says in the clip.

The ad later accuses the GOP candidate of wanting to “gamble it all on the stock market.”

Masters distanced himself from the comments last month, telling The Arizona Republic in an interview that he “probably” wanted to increase payments and desired to encourage younger Americans to invest, possibly by raising limits on Roth IRAs.

“I do not want to privatize Social Security,” he told the newspaper. “I think, in context, I was talking about something very different. We can’t change the system. We can’t pull the rug out from seniors. I will never, ever support cutting Social Security.”

The Hill has reached out to the Masters campaign for comment.

The DSCC said in a statement that the ad campaign is part of the group’s $33 million ad reservation this fall, which includes $7.5 million allocated for the Arizona race.

The Senate Leadership Fund, a Republican super PAC aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), late last month canceled reservations for ads in Arizona that were set to air between Sept. 6 and Oct. 3, reportedly worth about $8 million.

Saving Arizona PAC, a pro-Masters group initially funded by venture capitalist Peter Thiel during the primary campaign, on Friday launched its first television campaign for Masters since he became the nominee. Politico reported that the group now is operating without Thiel’s funding.

Masters, who was backed by former President Trump in his primary, is hoping to unseat incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly (D), who faces a tough reelection battle in one of the most closely watched midterm Senate races this year.

Republicans are largely seen as favored to flip control of the House, but Democrats are hoping to hold on to their razor-thin majority in the Senate. 

Nonpartisan election analyst FiveThirtyEight’s forecast as of Monday suggested Republicans have a 74 percent chance of flipping the House but a 31 percent chance of flipping the Senate. The forecast indicated Kelly has a 74 percent chance of retaining his seat.