soros spends $2 million to defeat arpaio scott bland, politico, november 4, 2016 




george soros has contributed $2 million to a group working to defeat maricopa county sheriff joe arpaio in arizona, the latest target of soros<u+2019> big spending in local law enforcement campaigns over the past year. 




the soros-funded pac, maricopa strong, will file campaign finance documents friday showing soros<u+2019> multi-million dollar investment against arpaio, along with $500,000 from texas energy billionaires laura and john arnold and $250,000 from laurene powell jobs (the widow of apple co-founder steve jobs). the group had previously reported a $300,000 donation from soros, one of the democratic party<u+2019>s biggest donors. 




soros has spent millions in 2015 and 2016 funding campaigns to defeat local prosecutors around the country and elect new ones who back criminal justice reform measures. soros-backed groups are currently spending big in three big-city district attorney races: houston<u+2019>s harris county, where soros has contributed over $1 million, according to local campaign finance filings; gilpin and jefferson counties outside denver, where soros has given about $1.5 million to unseat an incumbent; and phoenix<u+2019>s maricopa county, where a soros-funded pac has also spent over $1 million against the republican district attorney, bill montgomery. 




but soros<u+2019> spending against arpaio, a high-profile liberal bogeyman, is his single biggest investment in a local race this year, as well as the billionaire<u+2019>s first effort against a sheriff. it folds in immigration reform, another policy passion of soros<u+2019>, alongside criminal justice reform. 




{snip} 




maricopa strong has spent $2.9 million in the sheriff<u+2019>s race, with the donations from soros and others funding a flurry of mailers and tv ads boosting democratic candidate paul penzone and hammering arpaio. soros has typically been the sole funder of his local outside-spending campaigns around the country, though jobs and the arnolds joined him in funding maricopa strong. 




{snip} 




arpaio<u+2019>s campaign has attacked soros<u+2019> efforts, calling him a <u+201c>far-left globalist,<u+201d> saying he is trying to buy a local race, and alleging that his group has broken disclosure rules, per the arizona republic. 




{snip} 




arpaio has aired about $2.8 million of his own tv ads, according to a media-tracking source, and has leaned on his national name recognition to raise millions more for his campaign, while penzone<u+2019>s campaign has been less well-funded. but several polls this fall have shown penzone leading arpaio in his second attempt to unseat the sheriff. 




{snip}
soros spends $2 million to defeat arpaio
henry wolff