Randy Graf, a conservative activist and former state representative, won a bruising Republican primary in Arizona’s open 8th Congressional District, despite the opposition of popular retiring Republican Rep. Jim Kolbe and much of the state and national Republican Party establishment.

With his victory over moderate state Rep. Steve Huffman by 43 percent to 37 percent in the three-candidate race, Graf enters the eight-week general election against Democratic former state Sen. Gabrielle Giffords with momentum and a base of fired-up supporters — many of them motivated by Graf’s outspoken advocacy, in a district that borders Mexico, of cracking down on illegal immigration. ~CQPolitics.com

Obviously, if Graf can win in the general, replacing a Jim Kolbe with a serious restrictionist Congressman would be a huge improvement.  It should also tell Republicans (again) which way the wind is blowing on immigration in their party in the part of the country most heavily affected by mass immigration from Mexico.  That the NRCC actively worked against Graf should also tell conservatives who are seriously concerned about border security and immigration that the party leadership is still openly and unmistakably against them and needs to be replaced–or abandoned.