Is Sheriff Joe Arpaio driving Arizona voters to the Democrats?

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 21:30:00 +0000

Arizona has earned its reputation as a sort of conservative laboratory where right-wing fetishes too kooky for other parts of the country can be brought to life. Among other experiments, there's been SB-1070, the infamous immigration measure, and a law to allow people to carry concealed weapons without permits or background checks. Oh, and the state has seen plenty of flirtation with birtherism. It’s fitting Arizona has its very own time zone, a Democratic flack joked to me recently.

But you reap what you sow, as they say, and the nativist fervor state officials have been whipping up for years may be turning on them. Former state Senate president Russell Pearce, the author of SB-1070, has already been deposed. And on Nov. 6, the state’s even more famous immigrant-fighter, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, could be next. Despite a massive war chest, Arpaio is now clinging to a mere 4-point lead, according to the latest poll. The most likely reason? Arpaio's racially charged antics have politicized and mobilized Latinos

Sheriff Arpaio ad digs up opponent’s ugly fight with ex-wife

Fri, 12 Oct 2012 20:08:00 +0000

An ad supporting scandal-plagued birther Joe Arpaio, the Republican sheriff of Arizona’s Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, highlights an ugly incident from his opponent’s former marriage. The cinematic commercial accuses opponent Paul Penzone of shoving his wife into a doorway. It is "based on a true story as much as the ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ is -- and let's just say there was no massacre in Texas involving chainsaws,” alternative weekly Phoenix New Times said.

Paid for by an outside group, the spot refers to a 2003 incident in which former Phoenix Police Department sergeant Paul Penzone’s then-wife allegedly hit him on the forehead with a hockey stick. According to the police report, she said he had shoved her into a threshold before she "may have inadvertently struck Paul." The two were in the midst of a custody dispute at the time. There were no witnesses, and neither was prosecuted. Penzone made the first call to the police.

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Is Sheriff Joe Arpaio driving Arizona voters to the Democrats?

Sheriff Arpaio ad digs up opponent’s ugly fight with ex-wife