ARIZONA NEWS

Joe Arpaio announces bid to once again become Maricopa County sheriff

Aug 25, 2019, 4:40 PM | Updated: 6:12 pm

(AP Photo)...

(AP Photo)

(AP Photo)

PHOENIX — Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is making another run at the position he held for more than 20 years.

Arpaio, 87, announced Sunday in a press release that he is running to be the county’s sheriff in 2020.

The Republican lost to Democrat and former Phoenix Police Sgt. Paul Penzone in 2016, ending his 24-year run in Maricopa County.

“I will continue to stand and fight to do the right thing for Arizona and America and will never surrender,” Arpaio said in the release.

In the release, Arpaio promised to reopen the controversial Tent City and crack down on border and illegal immigration issues if he were to once again become sheriff.

Penzone in October 2017 closed Tent City, the outdoor jail for low-level offenders that gained national attention for its living conditions and unique inmate wardrobe choices.

Earlier that year, Arpaio was found guilty of misdemeanor contempt when he continued his immigration sweeps for 17 months after a judge ordered him to stop.

He could have faced up to six months in jail, but was pardoned by President Donald Trump in August 2017.

It was the first pardon of Trump’s presidency.

Arpaio said he made the decision to run again partly because of encouragement from “thousands of people across across the nation.”

He said he expects a “bruising and bitter campaign” against Penzone. If Arpaio wins, it will be his seventh term as sheriff.

Arpaio said in the release he picked Aug. 25 to announce his bid because it was his wife Ava’s birthday, and because it was the day he was pardoned by Trump.

“The last four years have proven to be a time of lost opportunities to continue the kind of tough policing this country needs,” Arpaio said in the release. “Once back in office, I will use my position to restore pride to our law enforcement ranks, not only here, in the fourth-largest county in America, but across the country.”

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(AP File Photo) FILE - In this June 23, 2012, file photo, inmates gather next to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio as he walks through a Maricopa County Sheriff's Office jail called "Tent City" in Phoenix. Newly elected Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone announced Tuesday, April 4, 2017, that he will be closing the tent city jail in the coming months and relocating inmates to other jails. (AP Photo/Matt York, File) Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio steps in to the back of a car after leaving U.S. District Court following his latest hearing in the criminal contempt-of-court case against him for violating a judge's orders in a racial profiling case Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) FILE-In this Saturday, June 23, 2012 file photo, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio signs autographs for inmates as he walks through a Maricopa County Sheriff's Office jail called "Tent City" in Phoenix. The former longtime sheriff of metro Phoenix will go to court Monday, June 26, 2017, to defend his reputation at a trial in which he's charged with purposefully disobeying a judge's order. Arpaio is charged with criminal contempt-of-court for prolonging his immigration patrols 17 months after a judge ordered them stopped. (AP Photo/Matt York, File) FILE-In this Thursday, Aug. 8, 2013 file photo, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio pauses while speaking about a detention officer who was shot in Phoenix. The former longtime sheriff of metro Phoenix will go to court Monday, June 26, 2017, to defend his reputation at a trial in which he's charged with purposefully disobeying a judge's order. Arpaio is charged with criminal contempt-of-court for prolonging his immigration patrols 17 months after a judge ordered them stopped. (AP Photo/Matt York, File) FILE-In this Thursday, April 3, 1997 file photo, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio displays one of the new prisoner uniform tops in downtown Phoenix, Ariz. The former longtime sheriff of metro Phoenix will go to court Monday, June 26, 2017, to defend his reputation at a trial in which he's charged with purposefully disobeying a judge's order. Arpaio is charged with criminal contempt-of-court for prolonging his immigration patrols 17 months after a judge ordered them stopped. (AP Photo/Scott Troyanos, File) FILE-In this Thursday, July 29, 2010 file photo, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio speaks in Phoenix announcing his crime suppression sweeps. The former longtime sheriff of metro Phoenix will go to court Monday, June 26, 2017, to defend his reputation at a trial in which he's charged with purposefully disobeying a judge's order. Arpaio is charged with criminal contempt-of-court for prolonging his immigration patrols 17 months after a judge ordered them stopped. (AP Photo/Matt York, File) Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, front right, leaves U.S. District Court on the first day of his contempt-of-court trial Monday, June 26, 2017, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) FILE--In this April 9, 2004, file photo, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is shown in his office in Phoenix, Ariz. Arpaio has been convicted of a criminal charge Monday, July 31, 2017, for disobeying a court order to stop traffic patrols that targeted immigrants in a conviction that marks a final rebuke for the former sheriff and politician who once drew strong popularity from such crackdowns but was booted from office amid voter frustrations over his deepening legal troubles.(AP Photo/Paul Connors) FILE--In this May 9, 1995, file photo, Maricopa County Sheriff Joseph Arpaio talks with media during a news conference announcing the opening of Tent City II in Phoenix, Ariz. Arpaio has been convicted of a criminal charge Monday, July 31, 2017, for disobeying a court order to stop traffic patrols that targeted immigrants in a conviction that marks a final rebuke for the former sheriff and politician who once drew strong popularity from such crackdowns but was booted from office amid voter frustrations over his deepening legal troubles. (AP Photo/T.J. Sokol, file) FILE--In this Nov. 17, 1996, file photo, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio talks with reporters following a jail yard meeting with inmates of the "Tent City" section of the Durango facility in downtown Phoenix. Arpaio has been convicted of a criminal charge Monday, July 31, 2017, for disobeying a court order to stop traffic patrols that targeted immigrants in a conviction that marks a final rebuke for the former sheriff and politician who once drew strong popularity from such crackdowns but was booted from office amid voter frustrations over his deepening legal troubles.. (AP Photo/RoyDabner, file) FILE--In this April 17, 2008, file photo, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio next to some of his memorabilia in his office in Phoenix. Arpaio has been convicted of a criminal charge Monday, July 31, 2017, for disobeying a court order to stop traffic patrols that targeted immigrants in a conviction that marks a final rebuke for the former sheriff and politician who once drew strong popularity from such crackdowns but was booted from office amid voter frustrations over his deepening legal troubles. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, file) FILE--In this July 14, 2006, file photo, Elias Bermudez, president of Immigrants without Borders, kneels before Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio outside the Sheriffs office in Phoenix. Arpaio has been convicted of a criminal charge Monday, July 31, 2017, for disobeying a court order to stop traffic patrols that targeted immigrants in a conviction that marks a final rebuke for the former sheriff and politician who once drew strong popularity from such crackdowns but was booted from office amid voter frustrations over his deepening legal troubles. (AP Photo/Matt York, file) FILE - In this Dec. 11, 2007, file photo, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio addresses members of a chain gang in Phoenix. Arpaio has been convicted of a criminal charge Monday, July 31, 2017, for disobeying a court order to stop traffic patrols that targeted immigrants in a conviction that marks a final rebuke for the former sheriff and politician who once drew strong popularity from such crackdowns but was booted from office amid voter frustrations over his deepening legal troubles. (AP Photo/Matt York, File) FILE - In this Jan. 26, 2016 file photo, then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is joined by Joe Arpaio, the sheriff of metro Phoenix, at a campaign event in Marshalltown, Iowa. Trump was just a few weeks into his candidacy in 2015 when came to Phoenix for a speech that ended up being a bigger moment in his campaign than most people realized at the time. And now Trump is coming back to Arizona at another crucial moment in his presidency. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File) FILE - In this Jan. 26, 2016, file photo, then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was joined by Joe Arpaio, the sheriff of metro Phoenix, during a news conference in Marshalltown, Iowa. On Sunday, Aug. 13, 2017, Trump told Fox News he may grant a pardon to the former sheriff following his recent conviction in federal court. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File) FILE - In this Feb. 4, 2009, file photo, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, left, orders approximately 200 convicted illegal immigrants handcuffed together and moved into a separate area of Tent City, for incarceration until their sentences are served and they are deported to their home countries, in Phoenix. On Sunday, Aug. 13, 2017, President Donald Trump told Fox News he may grant a pardon to the former sheriff following his recent conviction in federal court. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

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Joe Arpaio announces bid to once again become Maricopa County sheriff