AZCrazy: They start 'em young here...or at least, before they get to the legislature...

Note: "young" refers to political age, not chronological age

...I'd speculate about something being in the water, but there isn't enough water here...

Most of the national (and international) ridicule directed at Arizona politics in recent years has been rooted in some of the actions of the state legislature or other denizens of the capitol district, but there is a "grass roots" brand of unprofessionalism that permeates certain local and special district governing boards.

Given that many of those boards serve as political feeder routes to the lege, it isn't actually much of a surprise that the Arizona Legislature is so dysfunctional - certain members of these boards have made their "whackjob" bones before moving up the political ladder.

In recent years we've seen...

...(late 2000s) the governing board of the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) devolve into a "hostile work environment" (and that's putting things mildly) because of a single member, Jerry Walker.

Walker later was a candidate for the legislature and a local school board, coming up short even in years when any other R with a pulse won their races.

...(turn of the decade) seemingly the entire town council and police department in Quartzsite go off the rails (here, here, and here, among many choices)...

...(early 2010s) the school board in charge of the Gilbert public school system taken over by some tea party types and the hijinks ensuing almost immediately...

...(this month, September 2015) the city council in Coolidge approve a policy of "Christian-only" invocations for council meetings.

The council member behind the controversial move, Rob Hudelson, is a public servant in the same way that the infamous Kim Davis is a "public servant" - he seems to want to serve up the public interest on the altar of his personal religious dogma.

His personal blog is here; don you hip boots before reading - he piles it high and deep there, and quickly.

He also has the habit of conflating his personal preferences with the will of his constituents.  To whit, from his Twitter page:

Speculation time:

Regardless of how the "Christian-only" invocations controversy plays out, this won't be the last time we hear about Mr. Hudelson.