Last night, Maryland voters went to the polls. This morning, they woke up to a Republican party in the state that’s been fully QAnon-pilled.
Republican voters chose Dan Cox to be their nominee for governor, who defeated current Gov. Larry Hogan’s (R) former commerce secretary Kelly Schulz. Cox is a state delegate in the Maryland legislature. In the primary for attorney general, the GOP selected Michael Peroutka to be their nominee. Peroutka is a former member of the Anne Arundel City Council.
Both have links to the QAnon conspiracy, the far-right belief that a cabal of Democrats and celebrities secretly control the country while also trafficking child sex slaves.
Cox was called a “QAnon whackjob,” and “QAnon conspiracy theorist” by Hogan, the sitting governor. According to Vice, he spoke at the Patriots Arise conference, which was put on by two QAnon believers.
Hogan’s “whack job” remarks came after Cox received the endorsement for governor from President Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, Peroutka also attended the Patriots Arise conference, according to a report by Right Wing Watch.
Together, the two form a potent blend of right-wing conspiratorial talking points that they’ll bring into the general election. Cox called former Vice President Mike Pence a “traitor” for refusing to overturn the 2020 election in favor of Trump. Peroutka, for his part, claimed he was angry Maryland didn’t side with Southern states in seceding during the civil war and does not believe in marriage equality.
In the general election, Cox will square off against either Wes Moore or former DNC chair Tom Perez. Peroutka faces a more difficult battle, as Maryland hasn’t elected a Republican attorney general in 100 years, according to CNN.
Regardless of if either win, the results from yesterday’s primary reveal that QAnon-esque beliefs will be central tenets of many major GOP candidates for office in November.