Arizona Senate race: Libertarian candidate drops out, endorses Blake Masters

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The Libertarian candidate in Arizona’s Senate race has dropped out and endorsed his Republican opponent.

Libertarian Senate candidate Marc Victor, who was polling at 1% in a New York Times/Siena College poll released Monday, dropped out of the race Tuesday, throwing his weight behind Republican nominee Blake Masters. Masters is facing Democratic incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly in the midterm election.

“I’ve said from the very beginning that the reason I’m running for Senate is to promote and get us in the direction of freedom and peace and civility,” Victor said in a YouTube video announcing his endorsement.

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Victor said at one point in his video, “[Masters] really is — in his heart and in his mind — he’s in favor of doing everything he can to get us very sternly, very smartly in the direction of ‘live and let live.’ And that seems like a good tradeoff to me.”

Masters, who sat down with Victor for a 20-minute recorded phone call on Monday, is hoping the competition-turned-endorsement will give him a boost in the polls.

Kelly leads Masters 51%-45% in the New York Times/Siena College poll, outside the 4.4 percentage point margin of error.

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With one week before the midterm elections, Fox News’ Power Rankings put the Arizona Senate race as a toss-up.

The Cook Political Report adjusted its rating in the race from “Lean Democrat” to a toss-up, suggesting the GOP’s chances are improving in a crucial race that could determine which party takes control of the Senate this fall.

The rating change comes “amid a spate of tightening private polling that has left Democrats worried about one of their strongest incumbents,” Cook Political Report analyst Jessica Taylor wrote.

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Republicans are defending 21 of the 35 Senate seats on the ballot this fall. If the GOP wins the Senate race in Arizona, it could be the determining factor in their chances of taking control of the Senate this fall.

Fox News’ Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.