Masters hopeful for McConnell support in Arizona Senate race

By JONATHAN J. COOPER
Associated Press

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters says he hopes Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will back his close campaign in Arizona. Masters on Friday struck a magnanimous tone toward the GOP leader he fiercely criticized during the primary. Masters has softened the harder edges of his confrontational style and moved toward the center on key issues since emerging atop a crowded GOP field in this month’s primary. He’s relying on deep-pocketed donors and national Republicans to make up for a severe financial deficit against Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly. Masters spoke to The Associated Press a day after McConnell suggested that Republican efforts to win control of the Senate could be imperiled by lackluster candidates