There's a new Republican candidate.......

....... and his name is Judge Manoel Maximiano Junqueira Filho!

A Brazilian footballer improbably named "Richarlyson" -- whose father played professionally and whose brother played in Portugal and is now with Brazil's Cruzeiro -- filed a criminal complaint for slander against Palmeiras club director Jose Cyrillo Junior for insinuating that he (Richarlyson) was gay.

Judge Filho stoked the dispute by dismissing Richarlyson's claim and issuing a ruling that suggested he leave the game if he were gay. If he weren't, the judge said, Richarlyson was obliged to defend himself on the same TV program.

"Not that a homosexual can't play soccer," Filho wrote. "He can, but he must form his own team and federation, setting up matches with those who want to play against him."

The judge concluded it is not "reasonable to accept homosexuals in Brazilian soccer because it would hurt the uniformity present" in team sport. Soccer, the judge said, is a "virile game" but "not homosexual," and allowing gays could lead to affirmative action for the sport requiring quotas of gays.

The ruling prompted the government body that oversees judicial ethics in Brazil to demand an explanation from the judge, who has until Friday to respond.

This guy would have KILLED at the Iowa Straw Poll!