Former TV pitchman J.D. Hayworth's ego may have met its match -- in the form of Congressman Jeff Flake and his well-stocked campaign coffers.
We're told by those in the know that Hayworth has decided to not square off against Flake in what would be a GOP primary for the U.S. Senate seat getting vacated by Senator Jon Kyl, which is great news for Arizona, but a real bummer for New Times staffers (the guy thinks gay people getting married will lead to men marrying horses and blames the medicaid shortfall on illegal immigrants. He's the journalism gift that keeps on giving).
Hayworth is one of several far-right-wing-nuts who was rumored to be considering a run for the seat.
Congressman Trent Franks, whose fear of fagalas recently prompted him to call for President Barack Obama to be impeached, announced last month that he would be making an announcement (an announcement for an announcement...ridiculous, we know) regarding his "future plans." It was implied that he would be saying he was running for Senate, but the day before his hyped announcement, he issued a statement saying he wouldn't be running. The announcement Franks announced never happened.
The problem for far-right-wingers is that Flake -- somewhat of a centrist who's loathed by big shots in the state Republican Party -- is shaping up to be a more-than-formidable opponent for any GOPer who may want to challenge him in a primary.
In the first quarter alone, Flake managed to raise about a million bucks giving him a total of about $1.5 million in cash on hand.
Another potential opponent for Flake is Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who said in February he was considering a run -- but that's only because nothing grabs headlines like pretending to be considering a run for political office, and Arpaio, simply put, is a media slut. Senator Joe Arpaio? No chance in hell, for a lot of reasons.
