U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters has repeatedly stressed that he would stick to his guns as an America First Republican, unafraid to speak controversial truths.
But after winning the GOP primary Aug. 2, Masters has changed his language, and perhaps his position, on the issue of abortion rights, which has become a vulnerability for Republicans nationally, as well as some other issues.
As first reported by NBC News, Masters scrubbed the phrase “I am 100% pro-life” from the campaign website. But perhaps more significantly from a policy perspective, the campaign deleted a line highlighting his support for “a federal personhood law (ideally a constitutional amendment) that recognizes that unborn babies are human beings that may not be killed.”
Depending on the specific language, such a law could lead to a ban on all abortions — not a popular position.
When journalists pointed out the change, Masters put out a video calling Sen. Mark Kelly the extremist. Kelly, Masters said, supports no limits on abortion until birth, while Masters simply wants “a ban on very late-term and partial birth abortion.”
Masters was referring to Kelly’s vote in favor of the Women’s Health Protection Act, which failed. It would have prohibited states from banning abortion of a viable fetus when the life and health of the woman are at stake.
Kelly says his position is that he would like to codify the protections in the Roe v. Wade decision, which the Supreme Court overturned in June.
CNN also dug into Masters’ website and found some changes unrelated to abortion. In a section about election integrity the sentence is gone that previously said, “if we had had a free and fair election, President Trump would be sitting in the Oval Office today and America would be so much better off.”
And he has deleted a line that echoed the “great replacement theory” — the argument that Democrats want to replace native-born Americans with immigrants. It is something Masters embraced openly earlier in the campaign. That line: “The Democrats dream of mass amnesty, because they want to import a new electorate.”
But he maintained some sharp language about the Biden administration: “They canceled the Border Wall construction. They invite illegals to come here and give them housing and cash.”
And this week he kept up his longstanding mockery of celebrations of cultural diversity and claims of racism.
When the Associated Press posted a story noting that the Federal Reserve had more female, black and gay officials than ever, Masters responded “Finally a compelling explanation for why our economy is doing so well.”
When subsequent news stories pointed out he seemed to be blaming cultural diversity for the economy’s woes, he lashed back. He said he doesn’t care about an employee’s sexual orientation or race as long as they’re competent, adding “We are done with this affirmative action regime.”
Tim Steller</&h6>
Vail incorporation studied
A citizens group in Vail is looking at whether the community southeast of Tucson would benefit from joining the city or becoming a separate municipality.
Members of the nonprofit called Incorporate Vail Arizona? have been meeting for more than a year and hired consultants to study the viability of incorporation, the group’s leader said in a news release announcing a series of public meetings later this month.
As an unincorporated part of Pima County, Vail has no local government of its own. Its residents are represented at the county level by a member of the county board of supervisors.
Consultants are comparing the pros and cons for Vail under various scenarios: joining Tucson through annexation, becoming a separate city or town or keeping the status quo, David Hook, president of the citizens group said in the news release.
“One of the many advantages of incorporation is that Vail residents would have direct input into the future of our great community. But ultimately, this decision is up to the residents,” Hook said.
Vail is about 25 miles southeast of Tucson and had about 14,000 residents in the 2020 census, an increase of more than 30 percent since the 2010 census. In 2013, Vail voters rejected a proposal to incorporate the community.
Go to incorporatevailaz.org for information and a list of neighborhood meetings happening in September.
Carol Ann Alaimo</&h6>
Housing supply meeting
A legislative committee studying the state’s housing-supply issues is scheduled to meet in Tucson and three other Arizona cities this month.
The Housing Supply Study Committee is tasked with studying the causes of Arizona’s housing supply problems and propose solutions by Dec. 31. The committee is co-chaired by Rep. Steve Kaiser and Sen. David Gowan, both Republicans, but also includes Rep. Cesar Chavez and Sen. Martin Quezada, both Democrats, as well as seven others.
The Tucson meeting is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Monday Sept. 12 at the Tucson City Council Chambers, 255 West Alameda Street. The meeting is set to run until 3 p.m., and public comment is encouraged.
The other meetings this month include one in Sierra Vista, at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 19 in the city council chambers, 1011 North Coronado Dr.
Tim Steller</&h6>
Hernandez has new gig
State Rep. Daniel Hernandez Jr. is landing on his feet after losing in the Democratic primary in Congressional District 6.
Stand for Children Arizona announced Wednesday the group has hired Hernandez as its government affairs director. Stand for Children focuses on building social justice and racial equity, also working on legislation involving children and schools.
Hernandez has been an office-holder in southern Arizona for more than a decade. He won a seat on the Sunnyside school board in 2011 and’ll served till 2019 there. He has also represented Legislative District 2 in the state House of Representatives since winning a seat in 2016.
Tim Steller</&h6>
