Thiel and GOP super PAC can't reach agreement on Arizona Senate spending

Tech billionaire Peter Thiel and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s political operation have been in a standoff over how to fund a key Senate race — and a late proposal to collaborate stalled out this week, less than a month before Election Day.

On Monday evening, Thiel reached out to Steven Law, who heads the Senate Leadership Fund, a McConnell-aligned super PAC, to propose a deal, according to a person familiar with the conversation. Thiel said that he and Law’s super PAC could each pump $5 million into the Arizona Senate race, where Thiel’s protégé, Blake Masters, is the Republican nominee running against Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly.

Thiel spent $15 million through a super PAC to bolster Masters during the primary, helping him to a 12-point win over his nearest competitor. But the PayPal co-founder and early Facebook investor has yet to help Masters in the general election. Senate Leadership Fund also decided to cancel its planned fall TV blitz in the state, a move which came as polls showed Masters trailing Kelly.

During the Monday call, Law told Thiel he would see if he would be able to rustle up the $5 million from donors to meet Thiel’s proposal — though he said an ask this late in the election year, when contributors were largely tapped out, may not be successful.

But on Thursday morning, Law got back to the billionaire to tell him that he’d been unable to find the donors to provide the needed funds, the person familiar with the talks said. The call was described as cordial.

Spokespersons for Senate Leadership Fund and Thiel did not comment.

Word of the negotiations between Thiel and SLF was first reported by Axios.

It’s unclear if Thiel now will spend on his own in the remaining time before Election Day, though Law urged Thiel during Thursday's call to forge ahead with spending on the race. After contributing extensively during the primaries — aside from Masters, he also doled out $15 million to back another protégé running for the Senate, Ohio Republican J.D. Vance — he has kept his wallet shut during the general election season.

While Senate Leadership Fund has turned off the spigot in Arizona, Masters is still getting help from the party. Conservative groups, including Heritage Action, are spending money in the state. Masters also met with McConnell during a recent trip to Washington, where the Republican leader held a fundraiser for him.