Famed Red Sox pitcher turned-disgraced video game businessman-turned far-right Twitter conspiracy theorist Curt Schilling is no stranger to flirting with bids for office in Massachusetts, but he’s shaking things up a bit this time by saying he’s interested in running for Congress in Arizona.
Schilling wouldn’t say where he was thinking of competing, only saying he was “considering going back to Arizona and running for a congressional seat — one of the blue ones.” However, that ambiguity didn’t prevent Donald Trump from enthusiastically tweeting on Tuesday about Schilling’s would-be campaign.
However, Trump may not want to hold his breath that this will be the cycle Schilling makes good on his frequent treats to run. Schilling actually said back in October of 2016 that he would challenge Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren the following cycle by declaring, “I've made my decision. I'm going to run.” However, Schilling bizarrely continued, “But—but—I haven't talked to Shonda, my wife,” and added, “And ultimately it's going to come down to how her and I feel this would affect our marriage and our kids.” The following March, Schilling announced that he would not actually run.
This time, Schilling says he’ll talk to his wife before making his decision, but insists she’s “now becoming more and more pumped at the potential” of them relocating to Arizona so he could run. Schilling went to high school in Phoenix and pitched for the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2000 to 2003, a period that included the team’s only World Series victory in 2001.
Schilling didn’t hint what Democratic-held seat he’d run for. However, Schilling recently endorsed a GOP candidate named Brandon Martin in the 2nd District, so a bid against Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick is probably off. If Schilling did want to run for a competitive seat then his only remaining option would be for the 1st District, where Democratic Rep. Tom O’Halleran is defending a seat that Trump narrowly won. Of course, we probably shouldn’t expect deep political calculations from Schilling, who among many other things has promoted the QAnon conspiracy theorists.
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