Campaign Action
Joe Arpaio—the very racist disgraced former sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, and convicted criminal who ignored or failed to properly investigate hundreds of sex crimes because he was too busy racially profiling Latino and immigrant drivers—is running for the U.S. Senate:
The 85-year-old Arpaio could shake up the late August Republican primary in a critical open-seat race to replace retiring Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. Trump pardoned Arpaio last summer, sparing the former sheriff jail time after he was convicted of ignoring a federal court order in a racial-profiling case.
In a telephone interview with the Washington Examiner, Arpaio shrugged off concerns about his age, dismissed Republican insiders’ anxiety that his poor reputation with nonwhite voters would put the seat in play for the Democrats in the midterm, and discussed plans to work with Trump on behalf of Arizona.
“I have a lot to offer. I’m a big supporter of President Trump,” Arpaio said. “I’m going to have to work hard; you don’t take anything for granted. But I would not being doing this if I thought that I could not win. I’m not here to get my name in the paper, I get that everyday, anyway.”
Except the disgraced former sheriff was run out of office in November 2016 and subsequently found guilty of criminal contempt of court for deliberately disobeying a federal judge’s order. Donald Trump’s pardon might have saved his butt from jail, but Arpaio’s record as both a convicted criminal and shit stain of a human being remains.
As immigrant rights activist Juan Escalante tweeted, “alright, America. You defeated a child molester in Alabama, now its time to defeat a criminal and civil rights abuser in Arizona. GO VOTE!”