Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio lost his bid to take up the position he held for more than two decades, and narrowly lost to a former aide in the Republican primary.
“What they mean is it’s time to fish,” Arpaio said of the message sent by voters in the province of Arizona.
WHO IS YOUR ARPAIO? A LOOK AT THE ARIZONA EX-SHERIFF
‘I made another shot of it. I’m not ashamed. I could have won this one, ”said the 88-year-old.
Arpaio, who was voted out in 2016, lost by more than 6,200 votes in the primary to former aide Jerry Sheridan, who will continue in November with opposing Democrat Paul Penzone.
The self-proclaimed “most difficult sheriff in America”, Arpaio served in the Army from 1950 to 1954 as part of the division’s medical division during the Korean War.
After his military service, Arpaio worked for three years as a police officer in Washington, DC, before serving six months as a cop in Las Vegas. He also worked for the Drug Enforcement Administration for 25 years, starting in 1957.
Arpaio held the position in Metro Phoenix from 1992 to 2016, and his tenure was marked by a harsh stance on immigration and crime. He made chain ties of the time and launched a number of burglaries against illegal immigrants – moves that led to a number of successful legal challenges and resulted in $ 147 million in legal bills.
SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO WINT PARDON OF TRUMP
After being voted out in 2016, he was convicted in 2017 of contempt of court for failing a 2011 court order to stop patrols for illegal immigrants. President Trump fired Arpaio months later.
Arpaio had promised to revive some of his more controversial policies, including prison tents in the scorching heat of Arizona, a policy that had allegations of cruelty.
Sheridan ran on the same policy as Arpaio, and pleaded for his own husband when he was elected in November.
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‘I’m not Joe Arpaio. “I’m Jerry Sheridan, a 32-year-old veteran of the Sheriff’s Office,” Sheridan said in a Fox 10 interview. ” Hundreds of workers asked me to run. So after 32 years and two years of retirement, I decided to throw my hat in the ring. “
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
