Before you write off Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett as another one of those fringy state officials diving deep into the birther waters of Hawaii, consider this: He is one of the co-chairs of the Romney campaign in Arizona.

Then again, that honorary position already comes with a few smudge marks. Another of Romney’s co-chairs was Paul Babeu, the virulently anti-immigrant Arizona sheriff who resigned as co-chair in February when he was forced out of the closet by allegations of an affair with … an illegal Mexican immigrant.

One more note about Bennett. Serving as Romney co-chair is a reversal of Bennett’s campaign pledge when he was running in 2012 not to endorse other candidates while secretary of state.