Republican candidate Diedre Paul. (Photo: DIedre Paul)

By David Wildstein, New Jersey Globe, March 30, 2023

Republican State Senate candidate Diedre Paul is headed to court tomorrow in a bid to force her running mate, QAnon supporter Robert Bedoya, off of the ballot. 

Bedoya filed with 126 signatures — 26 more than the number required — but Paul says that just 39 of them are invalid.  A review of Bedoya’s petitions by the New Jersey Globe shows that he is vulnerable to a challenge.

A Fort Lee Republican county committeeman and former school board candidate, Bedoya’s business card carries the QAnon acronym, WWG1WGA — “Where we go one, we go all” — and lists him as an “Assemblyman-elect”

A Republican source in Bergen County said that Paul is mounting the unusual petition challenge to her running mate because she is taking a principled position in refusing to run with Bedoya.  Paul, a veteran of several political battles, has put her principles ahead of the party before.

If a judge tosses Bedoya from the ballot, it will leave Republicans with one candidate instead of two in the 37th district.  The GOP can nominate someone through a write-in vote if that top vote-getter receives at least 100 votes. 

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