Contenders!
Dario Lopez-Mills/AP Photo
Just when it seemed Arizona Republicans couldn’t make more of a spectacle, they found another way.
As the party hardens around its fealty to former President Donald Trump, the GOP is filling up its midterm ballot with a roster of conspiracy theorists and extremists that could threaten the party’s prospects in a state that’s drifted leftward in recent elections.
The latest of those candidates is Ron Watkins, a celebrity in the QAnon conspiracy world suspected of being Q, who announced his plans to run for Congress last week.
It isn’t just that Watkins embraces the baseless claim that the November election was stolen. It’s that an entire ticket is running on that falsehood now. The state’s congressional delegation features Rep. Paul Gosar, who spoke earlier this year at a conference organized by a white nationalist, and Rep. Andy Biggs, who falsely maintains “we don’t know” who won the presidential election in Arizona.
Helluva sideshow! Primary season for Republicans around the United States is looking more and more like reruns from bad television plots on Fox.
Eideard 
“The Mesa Pastor Who Inspired QAnon Promoter Ron Watkins’ Run For Congress” https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/qanon-ringleader-ron-watkins-congress-jeff-durbin-mesa-arizona-12249888
“Alongside various Arizona elected officials, Watkins will speak at a QAnon conference in Las Vegas this weekend.” https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/arizona-legislators-to-speak-at-qanon-conference-in-las-vegas-11884331
“It is difficult, if not impossible, to estimate the size of the crowd that stormed Capitol Hill” https://theconversation.com/it-is-difficult-if-not-impossible-to-estimate-the-size-of-the-crowd-that-stormed-capitol-hill-152889