Politics & Power

Arpaio's spending passes $1 million mark

By Nick R. Martin | August 19th, 2010 | 8:00 am | 12 Comments »

Joe Arpaio photo
Joe Arpaio

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio continued dishing out huge amounts of campaign cash during June and July, surpassing the $1 million mark in total spending with more than two years still to go before he is up for reelection.

Arpaio, a Republican who has now raised nearly $3 million for his 2012 reelection campaign, spent just shy of $400,000 during those two months alone.

That brings his total campaign spending to $1.07 million since starting his fifth term in January 2009, according to reports he filed last week with the Maricopa County Elections Department.

It makes the sheriff one of the top political spenders in Arizona, putting him ahead of most candidates for Congress and all but one person running for statewide office.

According to the latest disclosure, most of Arpaio’s spending in June and July, roughly $236,000, went to buying ads in local media.

While the report doesn’t say anything specific about the media buys, Arpaio appears to have only bought television air time for two ads this year. Both of them have led to an investigation by county elections officials.

The ads appear to have little to do with Arpaio’s own 2012 reelection, although they mention he plans to run for a sixth term. Instead, the 30-second spots attack two of his fellow Republicans who happen to be running in primaries this year against candidates Arpaio has endorsed.

The ads, which target Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley and attorney general candidate Tom Horne, make passing reference to Arpaio but go on to lump the two candidates in with Democratic President Barack Obama and liberal politics.

Arpaio has endorsed Romley’s primary challenger Bill Montgomery and Horne’s primary opponent, Andrew Thomas.

After a complaint by Romley earlier this month, the county elections department opened an investigation into the ads, trying to determine whether Arpaio is allowed to use his reelection money to weigh in on other races.

Only four Arizona candidates have spent more campaign money this year than Arpaio, according to the latest campaign reports.

Sen. John McCain has spent $19.2 million for his reelection campaign. His Republican primary challenger, J.D. Hayworth, has spent $2.6 million. Republican gubernatorial hopeful Buz Mills spent $3.3 million before dropping out of the race in July. And Rep. Gabrielle Giffords spent $1.1 million for her reelection bid.

Watch one of Arpaio’s ads:


  • judy4arizona

    I don't like McCain and I voted for him in the Presidential election. He wrote the cap and trade bill, supports amnesty, and has been apart of the big spending that Washington is involved with.

    Thus I would have to look closely at the character of the candidate rather than going by his endorsement.

  • Get this guy on Posterous or WordPress now!

  • testing…

  • Bill Richardson

    According to the Arizona Republic, my Blog was dropped following a letter they received from the Tempe Police Chief Tom Ryff and his assistant Charles Cobbs. I don't know where Sgt. Carbajal is getting his information?

    Who isn't telling the truth?

    And what about the letters attacking me the NAACP sent to the Arizona Republic at the behest of members of the Tempe PD?

    The 1st Amendment is dying on the vine in the City of Tempe.

  • Bruce Reynolds-

    My name is Bruce Reynolds- I am a former colleague of Bill Richardson. I recently sent the folliwng letter to the AZ Republic after reading the column that offended the Tempe PD.

    “Tell me Bill, why do you even care?”

    This statement was made by a Tempe police official when Bill Richardson, a columnist and retired Master Police Officer asked about violent crime in their city. Having worked for 16 years in law enforcement (including 14 in an Easy Valley police department) I was appalled at the comment. It is an insensitive and inappropriate comment for any public safety official to make to anyone.

    I am currently working overseas and have been for the past 19 years. This is the type of comment that you would expect from a government official in China, Burma, India or some other developing nation where life is cheap and corruption is the norm. For an management level official of a USA law enforcement agency to have the attitude reflected in this comment is disgusting.

    The Tempe Police official that made this statement should apologize to the victims of every violent crime in Tempe, Arizona and the USA. Then they should go and tender their resignation. Failing that, the Chief of Police should demand it.

    What are we becoming when those we appoint to protect us have no heart or soul?

  • Bob Satnan

    I'd like to say complaints about Bill's work is something new, but he has long been a needed thorn in the side to Valley law enforcement. Bill understands the issues and has worked hard to champion regional cooperation to better serve residents and keep them safe. When he wrote for the EVTrib while I was editorial page editor there, MCSO was constantly calling or e-mailing to complain about his columns; the difference is we stood up to the complainers and continued to give Bill a platform to write about meaningful local issues.

  • Eleanor

    What if is the Chief who uttered those lame words?

  • Eleanor

    Thanks for writing about this Mr. Martin. The lies that have come out of the Police Department only seem to get more and more ridiculous. Mr. Richardson has been working hard to write about things that need to be addressed in Tempe. Our City is a mess and our leadership is even worse. The idea that the Editors at the Republic caved to the intimidation is apalling. There have been many people who have been caving into the intimidation tactics used by the leadership in Tempe. Unfortunately this only allows them to believe they can get away with such behavior.

  • Richard Murphey

    Hello Bruce! This is Dick Murphey also a former colleague of both you and Bill. I've been on Bill's mailing list for several years and found him driving in his effort to get east Valley Police to work better together. The old statewide criminal information organization folded and that's it, I guess. We need information diggers for every department……

  • Dave

    What stinks is Richardson's attempt to be a reporter. Bill Richardson talks out of both ends. He bashes cops on a regular basis. There is no fowl play here – Richardson is a grouchy old man who does not check his facts.

    What goes around comes around, Bill. BTW, giving yourself made-up titles like “master” officer or reporter doesn't shun you from public backlash.

  • Bill Richardson

    Who is telling the truth? The Tempe Police Department or the Arizona Republic?

    This information came from heatcity.com

    Tempe police spokesman also denied that the agency had anything to do with the Republic’s decision, saying no one there had even voiced concerns about Richardson’s blog.“To answer your question, no,” Sgt. Steve Carbajal said. “Nobody from the department, including the chief, has made a complaint to the Republic.”

    This information came from the Arizona Republic.

    We did receive a complaint regarding Mr. Richardson’s blog and our investigation found no wrong-doing on his part. Unfortunately, he then sent a letter that we felt was an act of intimidation. We have a strict policy that investigates any complaints against the paper without prejudice so that we insure we’re not leveraging our position in an unfair way. The public must be able to voice concerns without fear of retribution.

    Randy Lovely

    I was told by the paper they received a complaint from Tempe Chief Tom Ryff and his assistant Charles Cobbs.

    Below is the email I sent to Tempe officials after I was told the NAACP sent two letters to the Arizona Republic. A Tempe police employee made this complaint. The NAACP has refused to release the complaint, the two letters it wrote or its secret investigation of me.

    August 13, 2010

    Chief Ryff and Mr. Cobbs:

    Did either of you have anything to do with the NAACP writing multiple letters to the newspapers I write for complaining about my purported involvement in the operating the tempepolicecloset.com website along with concerns about my having a racial bias?

    If so, please tell me what you based your representations about me on?

    Also, if you were involved, did any of your efforts take place on city time and involve city equipment or any other city personnel besides the two of you?

    I look forward to an immediate and honest response.

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