Top VP contender JD Vance risks Donald Trump's ire by backing rival candidate Blake Masters in contentious Arizona House race

What's going on in the race for the coveted seat in Arizona's 8th congressional district? 

A former member of Congress who offered a staffer $5 million to have his child, a failed Trump-backed Senate candidate who the ex-president is now working against and a local lawmaker who spewed pro-Hitler talking points are all among the colorful candidates vying for the seat to replace retiring Rep. Debbie Lesko. 

Adding a layer to the chaos is a top potential VP pick for President Trump finds himself on the opposite side of Trump's hand-picked candidate in the race. 

Only a few short months ago, Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, vowed not to help anyone actively working against Trump's endorsed candidates. 

'I have a long memory. If you're fighting against Trump and his endorsed candidates politically today, don't ask for my help in a year with your legislation or pet projects,' he wrote on X on March 2. 

Vance flanks President Trump as he speaks to reporters at Manhattan criminal court in New York on Monday 

Vance at an Ohio rally with Trump in 2022 

But Vance has done just that. 

Last October, Vance became the only Senate candidate to endorse Blake Masters in his House race. Trump, meanwhile, threw his weight behind Abe Hamedeh two months later in December. 

Masters' fall from Trump's graces is stark. Having been at the center of the Trump movement in his 2022 Senate race, he scored Trump's backing at the time - but still lost to Democrat Mark Kelly. 

This time around, Trump ordered Masters not to run for Senate to make way for Kari Lake, and he complied. Masters instead focused on the House race for the eight district - and Trump this time threw his weight against Masters. 

Vance and Masters share a connection through billionaire PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel.

Masters served as Thiel Capital's COO until 2022 when he resigned to focus on the Senate bid. But FEC disclosures show just last year Thiel paid Masters an eye-watering $25 million as a bonus. The form says the payment was part of a five-year plan agreed to in 2018. 

Thiel, who donated $10 million to Masters' unsuccessful Senate bid in 2022, swore off political donations this cycle. Trump reportedly called him a 'f***ing scumbag' to Masters after the ex-president called Thiel to ask him to give $10 million to his 2024 campaign. 

Thiel, meanwhile, served as a mentor to Vance, a backer of his venture capital firm, donated over $15 million to his Senate race and helped him secure other high-dollar donors. 

Last October, Vance became the only Senate candidate to endorse Blake Masters in his House race

Trent Franks is back: the ex-House member, who served Arizona's eight from 2003 to 2013, reportedly approached two female staffers about acting as a potential surrogate for him and his wife

State Sen. Anthony Kern is now banned from the senate's legislative broadcast equipment after using it to appear on a far-right talk show and where host Stew Peters called Adolf Hitler a 'hero' and said the Nazi book burnings were 'awesome'

Vance on Monday appeared alongside Trump on his way to the courthouse for his hush money trial. Vance has had several meetings at Mar-a-Lago and this week Trump will travel to Ohio for a fundraiser with the hit 'Hillbilly Elegy' author. 

But Trump's list of potential VP contenders is long, and he hasn't forgotten Vance's past criticisms. In a luncheon this month, Trump said of the Ohioan: 'He wasn't a supporter of mine at the very beginning … He was saying things like 'the guy's a total disaster' … any ways I got to know him a little bit … As a non politician, he's become one of the great senators.' 

In 2016 Vance had declared himself a 'never Trump guy' and wondered if Trump could be 'America's Hitler.' 

But Vance has been at the frontlines of Trump's favorite policy positions - he's been an outspoken opponent of Ukraine aid in the Senate. 

Other names under consideration for Trump's running mate include South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who flew with Trump to his New Jersey rally over the weekend. House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik and Senator Marco Rubio are also in the running.

Masters has recently raised eyebrows by saying competitor Hamedeh should not be be in Congress because he doesn't have a wife or kids and attempted to connect Hamedeh to illegal immigration because he is the son of Syrian immigrants. 

'I want to bring big tech under heel, I want to stop Bidenflation, there's all these issues,' Masters said in a campaign video. 'But the real reason —or a different cut on it anyway — is my family. I've got a wonderful wife and four beautiful boys. That's called skin the game … what we don't need is someone with no wife and kids, no skin in the game.'

Last October, Vance became the only Senate candidate to endorse Blake Masters in his House race. Trump, meanwhile, has backed Abe Hamedeh

Later in the video, Masters said: 'We don't need someone who supported amnesty in the past. We don't need someone who owes his entire existence in this country to illegal immigration.' 

Meanwhile, Trent Franks is back: the ex-House member, who served Arizona's eight from 2003 to 2013, reportedly approached two female staffers about acting as a potential surrogate for him and his wife. After resigning at the time of the incidents, now he wants to serve in Congress again. 

The aides feared Franks was asking to have sex with them, though they did not accuse him of saying so directly. Franks opposes abortion and discarding of embryos, which is typically part of the process of in-vitro fertilization. 

He reportedly offered to pay one of the staffers $5 million to carry his child and pressured her relentlessly. Another woman said publicly that Franks offered her an internship in his office, but when she denied his invitation to come to his home alone to discuss it, he revoked the offer. 

At the same time state Sen. Anthony Kern is now banned from the senate's legislative broadcast equipment after using it to appear on a far-right talk show and where host Stew Peters called Adolf Hitler a 'hero' and said the Nazi book burnings were 'awesome.' 

On the show, Kern said Christians need to 'rise up' in the way Americans rebelled against the British in the Revolutionary War.

'It is time for battle. This is our 1776 moment…We have to rise up and get our country back,' Kern said, adding that he believed God appointed Donald Trump to be president. 

Kern was indicted last month for his role in the Trump 'fake elector' scheme in the 2020 election. 

Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma and newcomer Patrick Briody are also running the Republican primary on June 30.