He’s got money, charisma and a presidential pardon. Now he thinks—and local Republicans fear—he can win the GOP Senate primary in Arizona.
By Ben Strauss | POLITICO
Somebody wants me out of the race,” Joe Arpaio said. He was in the lobby of the Church for the Nations, a sprawling 13-acre campus where several hundred Republicans—from precinct captains all the way up to Governor Doug Ducey—gathered last weekend for Arizona’s annual party convention. Outside, candidates blanketed tables with campaign literature. Inside, Arpaio was in a sour mood.
During a 24-year career that not long ago seemed to be over, Arpaio was the tough guy Sheriff of Maricopa County. He dressed his inmates in pink underwear and housed them in outdoor barracks known as Tent City. He became the face of the anti-immigration movement, gaining national prominence (“America’s Worst Sheriff,” in the headline of a New York Times editorial) for workplace raids that thrilled conservative activists and enraged civil rights attorneys. Then Arpaio lost his reelection bid for sheriff in 2016. Last year, he was convicted of criminal contempt of court for not complying with a federal judge’s order to stop racially profiling Latinos during raids and traffic stops.
