
Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is running for U.S. Senate, he told the Washington Examiner this morning.
While Arpaio had hinted at a run for months, many political insiders doubted his interest in actually running for the seat currently held by Sen. Jeff Flake, who announced last year that he wouldn’t run again.
Arpaio was first elected as Maricopa County sheriff in 1992 and held the seat until 2016, when he was ousted by Democrat Paul Penzone.
His reign as sheriff was marred by controversies over racial profiling against Latinos. He was convicted of criminal contempt in 2017 for defying court orders for his office to stop detaining people because they were believed to be undocumented. President Donald Trump pardoned Arpaio last year.