Lost in all the Tuesday election-night punditry about Carly Fiorina in California, the Chicken Lady in Nevada, the Halter-Lincoln battle in Arkansas, and a handful of other circuses, was that fact that every candidate in California who was backed by Arizona's nativist Sheriff Joe Arpaio went down. Big time. According to the Phoenix New Times today:
All of the politicians Arpaio plugged, campaigned for, raised money for, or just had a kind word for went down in flames in California primary and local elections yesterday.
Couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Let's hope Joe does more campaigning for other Arpaio wannabees here in Arizona. But for now, check out these three races where his bigotry – and the promise to bring Arizona's "papers please" law to California – got absolutely trounced.
Orange County Sheriff
Arpaio visited the generally conservative confines of Orange County more than once to stump for Bill Hunt, who was running for County Sheriff. At one stop Hunt told his crowd:
"I think Joe is great. I look forward to being mentored by him when I get into office."
You might have to wait a while, Bill. While stumping for Hunt, the Sheriff also teamed up with Barbara Coe, who appeared last week at Arizona's pro-SB 1070 rally. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, she's another piece of work:
Vitriolic, conspiracy-minded and just plain mean, Coe routinely refers to Mexicans as "savages." She claims to have exposed a secret Mexican plan (the "Plan de Aztlan") to reconquer the American Southwest.
All that wingnut firepower didn't seem to help Hunt much. A pro-gun, anti-immigrant lout in the mold of Joe Arpaio, Hunt only received 28 percent of the vote, while incumbent Sandra Hitchens walked away with 52 percent in the three-way race, avoiding a run-off.
Governor
In the gubernatorial race, Arpaio's favorite son, Steve Poizner, who also ran on an anti-immigrant platform, lost to Meg Whitmann more than 2 to 1. A week before the election Arpaio was in the Golden State stumping for Poizner:
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio says he believes Poizner would be tough on illegal immigration and would work to enact a California law similar to the controversial one in Arizona.... Poizner supports the law and would like to cut off most state services to illegal immigrants and their children. His GOP opponent, Meg Whitman, does not.
Pssst, GOP: This "cutting off aid to kids" bellicose blabbing does not fly. But keep saying it, especially as the Southwest becomes even younger and more non-white.
San Diego County Sheriff
Joe put most of his weight, however, behind San Diego County Sheriff candidate Jay LaSuer, who – wait for it – also ran an anti-immigrant campaign. Arpaio helped LaSuer raise money and appeared with him throughout the county. For his part, writes Stephen Lemons at New Times, LaSuer can't get enough of Arpaio's he-man tactics:
LaSuer, who is decidedly anti-immigrant, features an autographed pic of himself with a glowering Arpaio on his Web site, and he's even gone so far in debates with his rivals for the top law enforcement spot in San Diego County to suggest that what SDC really needs is its own Tent City.
Let's hope someone mentioned to voters that the policies LaSuer wants to imitate are so unprincipled, corrupt, and unconstitutional, that Arpaio has cost the taxpayers of Maricopa County more in lawsuits than the next ten large county sheriffs combined. Yeah, good model there, Jay. Well, he won't have to worry about building his version of Tent City because LaSuer received only 22 percent in another three-way race, while incumbent Bill Gore won with 57 percent.
One encouraging takeaway here is that, even in two conservative counties for Republican primaries, the mean-spirited nativist nutballs are so out of step that they could not even force the incumbents into a run-off. Maybe voters remembered this: