In response to Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s announcement that he would run for office, People For the American Way Political Director Lizet Ocampo issued the following statement:

“It’s hard to think of a candidate as unfit for office as Donald Trump or Roy Moore, but Joe Arpaio is certainly in the same league. He’s built a career almost entirely on racism and xenophobia—and his record as  Sheriff of Maricopa County made clear that he was far more interested in attacking Latino families than he ever was in building safe communities. That’s a large part of the reason that he was defeated for reelection in 2016.

“Republicans in Arizona need to make a choice. Are they going to stand up immediately against Joe Arpiao’s hatred and bigotry and pledge that they’ll refuse to support him should he somehow win the nomination? Or are they going to treat Joe Arpaio as just another candidate and make it clear that they think racists are welcome in their ‘big tent?’ Latinos all across the country will be watching to find out what they choose.”

You can read more about Joe Arpiao’s record of extremism on PFAW’s Right Wing Watch blog.

People For the American Way is a progressive advocacy organization founded to fight right-wing extremism and defend constitutional values including free expression, religious liberty, equal justice under the law, and the right to meaningfully participate in our democracy.

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