Intro: The 54-year-old, German-born Thiel has emerged as one of the Republican Party’s most prominent donors.
He has also dished out $10 million to a super PAC backing his former de facto chief of staff, Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters.Thiel, a close Trump ally, earlier this year held a fundraiser for Wyoming Republican Harriet Hageman, who is running to unseat GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, an outspoken Trump critic.
Hawley, Masters, and Vance share deep ties — including a common benefactor: tech billionaire Peter Thiel. Thiel has contributed $10 million to a super PAC backing Masters, his former de facto chief of staff, as well as $13.5 million to another group bolstering Vance, a venture capitalist and the author of the book “Hillbilly Elegy.”
Thiel, a PayPal co-founder and early Facebook investor who has emerged as one of the Republican Party’s most prominent donors, gave six figures to Hawley’s 2016 campaign for state attorney general and cut max-out checks to his 2018 Senate campaign.
The Missouri senator is backing Blake Masters and Ohio's J.D. Vance, two more Peter Thiel allies, to join him in Washington
"Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley is endorsing Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters, flexing his muscle in a high-profile Republican primary and cementing a new ideological alliance shaping the midterm election.
Hawley — who is widely regarded as a prospective 2024 presidential contender — has now thrown his support to two of the most outspoken Republican populists running for Senate this year: Masters and Ohio Republican J.D. Vance. In both cases, Hawley is inserting himself into competitive primaries and backing candidates with notably anti-political establishment rhetoric and ideology.
> The Missouri Republican lavished praise on Masters in a statement to be released Monday, saying he “understands the threats our country faces — from the Chinese Communist Party to the corrupt Big Tech monopolies to the political elite determined to take apart our way of life,” and adding: “We need new leaders who will fight for this country.”
Masters is running in a competitive primary that also features state Attorney General Mark Brnovich, wealthy solar energy executive Jim Lamon, and retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Mick McGuire. While former President Donald Trump has endorsed Vance, he has yet to declare his support for a candidate in the Arizona primary, which is set for Aug. 2. Trump, however, recently said he would be endorsing in the race “in the not too distant future.”
. . .Regardless of whether Hawley is preparing to run for president, many Republicans are convinced the Missouri Republican is positioning himself to play a bigger role in GOP politics.
“He is smartly doing what he can to help elect some ideological allies to join the fight with him,” said Andy Surabian, a Republican strategist who is advising Vance and a pro-Masters super PAC.
". . .Most of us, these days, operate downstream from one billionaire or another, and the most interesting and destabilizing parts of the Republican Party are operating downstream from Thiel, whose net worth Bloomberg recently estimated at more than six billion dollars. . ."
"Billionaire Peter Thiel—one of Facebook’s earliest investors—plans to leave Meta’s board of directors, the company announced Monday, and plans to focus on influencing November’s midterm elections in favor of Trump-aligned candidates, according to an unnamed source cited by the New York Times.
Thiel was one of Facebook’s first large investors, investing $500,000 in the company in 2004. In 2016, Thiel voiced enthusiastic but qualified support for Trump, describing Trump’s comments about women as “clearly offensive and inappropriate,” but suggesting that Trump would help make the U.S. more prosperous by reducing deficits and taking the U.S. out of “undeclared wars.”
In 2021, Thiel donated $10 million to groups backing the campaigns of Trump-supported Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters and Hillbilly Elegy author and venture capitalist J.D. Vance, an Ohio Senate candidate who has fought to rebrand himself as pro-Trump despite previous harshly critical comments.
Libertarian tech titan Peter Thiel is spending $10 million to boost one of his closest allies in next year’s Arizona Senate race, a contest crucial to the fight for the majority.
The billionaire is coming out in support of Blake Masters, the chief operating officer of Thiel Capital and the president of the Thiel Foundation, who is expected to soon enter the race. Thiel, who co-founded PayPal, is bankrolling Saving Arizona PAC, a newly formed, pro-Masters super PAC, according to a person familiar with the investment.
Thiel is emerging as one of the biggest donors of the 2022 election cycle, spending heavily to bolster close associates who are seeking office. He recently cut a $10 million check to a super PAC supporting author J.D. Vance, who is expected to run for Ohio’s open Senate seat. Thiel has previously provided financial backing to Narya, a Vance-co-founded venture capital firm.
Thiel’s support could play a major role in Arizona by helping Masters possibly scare away would-be Republican
Vance parlays Trump endorsement into new Thiel money
Ohio Republican J.D. Vance is cashing in on his endorsement from former President Donald Trump with a major new super PAC donation from billionaire tech investor. . .Thiel is Vance’s biggest patron. With his new donation, the PayPal co-founder and early Facebook investor has given $13.5 million to the pro-Vance super PAC, after seeding it with $10 million last year.
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