Report: Republicans caused Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio to lose election

PHOENIX — Republican voters did not turn out in droves to help re-elect outgoing Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and ultimately caused the election for him, according to a new report.

The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting report found that Republican voters, not Latinos, failed to show out and vote for Arpaio in the November general election.

The report found that 70 percent of the 276,000 voters who cast their ballot for Penzone in this election and voted for Arpaio in 2012 came from Republican-majority precincts.

Only 15 percent of voters in majority-Hispanic areas who voted for Arpaio in 2012 also voted for former Phoenix Police Sgt. Paul Penzone in this election.

“Rather, toss-up and Republican-leaning precincts with about average Hispanic composition withdrew enough support to tip the election,” the report read.

Arpaio took a hard anti-immigration stance during his time as sheriff and will go to trial in April for a misdemeanor contempt charge. Arpaio is accused of prolonging his immigration patrols, where officers would stop cars and ask to see their legal documentation, 17 months after a judge in a racial profiling case had ordered them stopped.

Penzone will head the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department after defeating Arpaio by a 10-point margin. Penzone lost to Arpaio by 80,000 votes in 2012, but beat the sheriff by 196,000 votes this election.

Arpaio spent six terms in office after first being elected in 1993. In 2015, Arpaio became the county’s longest serving sheriff.

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