Ex-Sheriff Joe Arpaio, 88, makes 2nd comeback bid
Joe Arpaio is trying to win back the sheriff’s post in metro Phoenix that he held for 24 years, facing his former second-in-command in the Aug. 4 Republican primary in what has become his second comeback bid.
The 88-year-old lawman, who was unseated in the 2016 sheriff’s race by a Democratic challenger and was trounced in a 2018 U.S. Senate race, has based much of his campaign around his support for President Donald Trump.
He has vowed to bring back things that the courts have either deemed illegal or his successor has done away with — immigration crackdowns, a complex of jail tents and other now-discarded trademarks.
“I’m telling you right now: I am going to do 90% of what I did during my 24 years,” Arpaio said. “That’s the way it’s going to be.”
Arpaio and his former second-in-command, Jerry Sheridan, are considered front-runners in the GOP primary.
Glendale Officer Mike Crawford and Mesa security guard Lehland Burton also are seeking the Republican nomination.
The winner will go on to face Democrat Paul Penzone, who crushed Arpaio in 2016 and is running unopposed in his primary.
Arpaio and Sheridan were forced out of the agency amid heavy criticism for being found in civil contempt of court for disobeying a judge’s order 2011 to stop Arpaio’s traffic patrols that targeted immigrants.
Arpaio said he’s out to prove his 2016 defeat was a fluke. But he has far less campaign money than he used to have and acknowledges some voters don’t even know he’s on the ballot this year.
Sheridan, who said Arpaio backed out a promise to support him, said his 38 years in law enforcement could help turn around a tarnished agency and insisted that he is his own man.