What may be more interesting in Arizona other than the upcoming presidential election is the election for Maricopa Country sheriff. Maricopa County—home to roughly 55% of Arizona residents and one of the most populous counties in the United States—has experienced the reign of Sheriff Joe Arpaio since 1993. The self-proclaimed “toughest man on crime” is up for reelection this November, and this could be the year he loses his throne.
Why is this election important? With all of the illegal immigration rhetoric sweeping the nation, whoever is elected will determine how law-enforcement in Maricopa County will tackle the issue of illegal immigration. Throughout Arpaio’s tenure, he has tackled the immigration issue with an iron fist, usually by ordering law-enforcement to sweep through predominantly-latino neighborhoods in order to round-up potential illegal immigrants.
But no way, no way Sheriff Joe loses in his 7th reelection bid, he’s been in office since 1993, his campaign spending is too powerful, the citizens of Maricopa County love him too much to let him go. But sometimes, change is inevitable. And with a surge in the donations from billionaire hedge-fund manager George Soros to Arpaio’s democratic opponent Paul Penzone, and continued criticisms of Arpaio targeting latino citizens in anti-immigration roundups, the tides may be a-turnin for old Sheriff Joe. Which I don’t know if Sheriff Joe losing the reelection bid is a good or bad thing. For people who view illegal immigration as a problem and strive for law-enforcement to crack-down on crime, Sheriff Joe is their candidate (as evident by serving six-straight terms). However, Arpaio has a history of violating the civil rights of his constituents—especially the latino population in Maricopa County—which expectantly turns off a majority of latino voters.
Usually, Sheriff Joe’s opponents have a hard time competing with his campaign spending (according to this FoxNews article, Arpaio has already spent 8.9 million on his reelection campaign), but with the large donation from Soros, Penzone might have a fighting chance against pulling a shocking upset win over the undefeated incumbent.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/09/14/phoenix-sheriff-joe-arpaio-may-have-new-foe-george-soros.html
--Andrew Moen
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