Dove, a felon and self-identified "biblical constitutionalist," publicly set fire to a Mexican flag during an immigration rally at Armory Park in Tucson in April. He's also famous for standing at polling places during the September 2004 Arizona primaries and filming and photographing anyone filing in to vote whom he suspected of being an illegal immigrant.

Speculation immediately abounded about Johnson's entry in the race.

"It's pretty strange," said Jerry Covey, chair of the Cochise County Democratic Party. He said he didn't know Johnson's age or his profession. "With the other candidates," Covey added, "I could practically give their stump speeches."

Donna Branch-Gilby, a Pima County Democratic Party chair, told the local paper that she had heard rumors that Johnson would found a "Democrats for Randy Graf" group if he loses the Democratic primary in September. (Graf is a conservative Republican candidate running largely on a get-tough-on-illegal-immigrants platform.)

Meanwhile, all the candidates were jolted when Graf, who is now considered a front-runner for the Republican nomination, ditched Steve Aiken, his vocal campaign manager. The firing came after media outlets reported that Aiken, a conservative radio talk show host, was convicted of two counts of "corrupting the morals of a minor" in 1996. The convictions arose from allegations by two young girls that Aiken forced them to have sex with him against their will. The girls met Aiken through Youthquest, a Christian counseling service he founded to help runaways.

Graf admitted he knew of the conviction but not all of the details when he hired Aiken, who has spoken about it on his radio show.

"I had been told by Mr. Aiken, a former law officer, that what he had been found guilty of was the equivalent of buying beer for a minor," Graf said in a statement on his website. Steve Huffman, a more moderate Republican candidate endorsed by outgoing Rep. Jim Kolbe, seized on the opportunity.

"If my kid were volunteering for Randy and he never told me about Steve's conviction," Huffman said, "I'd be mad as heck." –Angie C. Marek