By Corinne Murdock |
On Thursday, former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio qualified to run for the 2024 Fountain Hills mayoral race. This would be his second time running for the position.
At 91 years old — 92 next June — and following his unseating as the longest-serving sheriff for the state’s largest county, Arpaio has run a series of unsuccessful campaigns. He ran for Senate in 2018 and then ran to reclaim his sheriff seat in 2020, before launching a bid in 2022 to become the Fountain Hills mayor.
In a press release, Arpaio announced that he’d obtained just shy of 600 signatures, the maximum number required to qualify for the ballot. Arpaio remarked that his mayoral bid sparked interest from at least one national news outlet, the Washington Post, who allegedly was unable to obtain negative commentary on Arpaio from Fountain Hills residents.
“A Washington Post reporter followed Arpaio around town on the campaign trail, and had difficulty finding anyone who would say anything negative about him,” said the press release. “I am thankful and honored for the citizens of Fountain Hills recognizing my wisdom, principles, and leadership. Never surrender!
Signatures to qualify for the ballot aren’t due for another few months: candidates must turn in signatures between March 9 and April 8 by 5:00 pm.
The Washington Post coverage of Arpaio’s campaign, published early last month, focused on former President Donald Trump’s 2017 pardon of Arpaio over his continued practice of profiling and detaining Hispanic individuals as illegal immigrants despite a court order against it. The Post portrayed the pardon as one of a series from the former president, allegedly issued with the expectation that the beneficiaries would supply political favors down the road. This year, that would be securing the presidential nomination.
Arpaio gained mass media attention, and both praise and scrutiny for his “Tent City”: his outdoor jail facility established in 1993 outside of downtown Phoenix. In a 2018 documentary, Arpaio said that his contrived system was just and fair.
“I did it to make it tough, and when anybody complains I have one thing to say, and it shuts everybody’s mouth: [the] men and women fighting for our country, they live in tents. What’s wrong with the prisoners that violated the law living in tents?” said Arpaio. “If [you, the prisoner] don’t like it, when you get out, be good, be a good citizen.”
In the place of Tent City, Arpaio’s successor, Paul Penzone, established a substance abuse counseling program for repeat offenders.
Arpaio lost the last mayoral race in Fountain Hills to incumbent Ginny Dickey. She hasn’t filed a statement of interest to run again. Apart from Arpaio, only two others have filed statements of interest: Fountain Hills councilman Gerry Friedel and local psychologist Robyn Marian.
Another councilman Allen Skillicorn — a former Illinois state representative who, last summer, had signaled interest in running for mayor — congratulated Arpaio on his obtaining enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.
Skillicorn endorsed Arpaio last August.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
