When Arizona begins early voting, starting on July 3, voters will not simply cast a ballot.

You will send a message about issues and policies and people that matter.

That’s real power, even though the lineup in the last few primary elections might not make it seem that way.

Many races have been and remain this year as hold-your-nose-and-vote affairs, especially for moderate Republicans and independent voters.

Few candidates in contested races closely match reasonable views and priorities.

And no wonder.

The Republican Party — which, ironically, still holds a roughly 243,000-voter registration advantage over Democrats — has been overrun by MAGA loyalists.

The state GOP and its offshoots have turned into confabs of cranks and misfits. Drunk with populism, the party refused to accept outcomes in the 2020 and 2022 cycles.

They turned on their own, censuring people like former Gov. Doug Ducey, the late U.S. Sen. John McCain, Cindy McCain, former U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, former Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, County Attorney Rachel Mitchell and all seven justices of the Arizona Supreme Court.

Business leaders withheld support. Money dried up.

And then, bad candidates — people with eccentric views and oddball conspiracy theories, who prefer to engage in Donald Trump’s cutthroat form of politics — began dominating and winning GOP primaries, only to lose to Democrats in the fall.

Democrats ignore rural Arizona:That could cost them the........

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