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The story journalists told about Mark Lamb’s victory Tuesday night was one of victory over scandal. Lamb, who ran with the slogan “God, Family, Freedom,” won the Republican primary for Arizona’s deep-red 5th District despite reports that for years he had engaged in sexual behavior at odds with his traditional-values image. Lamb, an Arizona Republic investigation found, had sexted women other than his wife and threatened one with consequences if she didn’t keep quiet. The paper also uncovered racist texts. (Lamb’s campaign denies the allegations.) Despite the reports, President Donald Trump endorsed Lamb—and reiterated his support after the scandal came to light—and Lamb won easily. It was another data point for the power of Trump’s endorsement, and a significant one: Due to his district’s makeup, Lamb is heavily favored to win the general election in November.

But beyond the scandal, there’s another story to be told about Mark Lamb, one that’s arguably more concerning: Lamb has ties to the fringe right-wing “constitutional sheriff” movement. This movement argues that sheriffs have the ultimate authority in their county, per the Constitution, to decide which state or federal laws are lawful and therefore which should be enforced. Legal experts consider this to be bogus. Lamb, apparently, does not.

As a former sheriff from the Phoenix-area Pinal County, Lamb had achieved national celebrity as a kind of archetypal Western sheriff, appearing on Fox News and Newsmax in a cowboy hat to talk about stopping “bad guys.” As that persona, he spoke of the importance of enforcing the law when dealing with illegal........

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