Marc Victor, the Libertarian candidate in Arizona's Senate race, has dropped out and endorsed Republican Blake Masters.
Victor withdrew from the race Tuesday and threw his support behind Masters, who is trying to unseat Democrat incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly, according to ABC 15.
"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 on his campaign website announcing the turn of events.
"[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,'" Victor continued. "And that seems like a good trade-off to me."
Victor had a 20-minute recorded conversation with Masters on Monday and determined that "it's in the interests of the 'live and let live' global peace movement for me to step down with my campaign and urge people not to vote for me, not to vote for Mark Kelly, but to vote for Blake Masters."
Kelly holds a razor-thin margin over Masters, according to polling data.
Last week, the Cook Political Report shifted the Arizona Senate race from "Lean Democrat" to a toss-up, suggesting Republicans' prospects are brightening in a critical race that could decide the balance of power in the evenly split Senate.
Jessica Taylor, an analyst for Cook Political Report, wrote that the change comes "amid a spate of tightening private polling that has left Democrats worried about one of their strongest incumbents."
Victor's announcement fell on the deadline for ballots in Arizona to be mailed in order to be counted for the general election, according to ABC 15.
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