Egos cloud clear repudiation of nativist immigration rhetoric

I am a little surprised by the size of the Len Munsil victory over Don Goldwater (49.5% to 40.7%) in the Republican gubernatorial contest.

I am not shocked by the victory of Randy Graf over Steve Huffman and Mike Hellon in the GOP Congressional District 8 primary in southern Arizona. Nativist Graf scored 43.2% this time arounf, practically identical to his 2004 total of 42.5% against incumbent Jim Kolbe. Meanwhile, the regular Republican vote was split between Huffman (37.2%) and Hellon (12.2%). The Tom Tancredo clone took the nomination because the mainstream conservatives split their votes. Image the storyline that should have been written about the 2006 Arizona Republican primary… the hardline anti-immigrant message falls flat in a frontline border state.

With defeats of Goldwater and Graf, the proponents would have the undeniable case to make that the Tancredo take on immigration reform is a loser. But the egos of the sane wing of the Republican Party snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory. Moreover, Graf is a much weaker candidate in the general election than Steve Huffman would have been. It would be a shame if the GOP loses the U.S. House of Representative majority by one vote and that vote is cast by newly elected Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-Arizona CD8).