phoenix<u+2014>joe arpaio, who made cracking down on illegal immigrants his cause, lost a bid for a seventh term as sheriff of arizona<u+2019>s largest county. the 84-year-old sheriff, who campaigned for donald trump, was unseated by paul penzone, 49, a former phoenix police sergeant. mr. penzone will run the sheriff<u+2019>s department of maricopa county in the phoenix area, which is home to about four million people. the democrat won 55% of the vote to mr. arpaio<u+2019>s 45% when the associated press called the race with 25% of precincts reporting. after nearly 24 years in office, mr. arpaio had been mired with legal problems during this year<u+2019>s campaign, including criminal contempt of court charges , stemming from a case about racial profiling in his department, which federal prosecutors filed against him just weeks ago. through the years, mr. arpaio<u+2019>s tactics won him celebrity status among those who admired him for standing up to a federal government that they believed was turning a blind eye to illegal immigration. his detractors viewed his enforcement actions as racially motivated and divisive. mr. arpaio dubbed himself <u+201c>america<u+2019>s toughest sheriff.<u+201d> he erected tent city, a 2,176-bed outdoor jail to save on housing for inmates, whom he subjected to scorching heat and dressed in pink underwear. but his approach was derided by human-rights groups, attracted hundreds of lawsuits and, ultimately, ran afoul of the justice department, which launched an investigation into whether he had targeted latinos and abused his authority. last month, federal prosecutors charged mr. arpaio with contempt of court for willfully violating a judge<u+2019>s order to halt the immigration sweeps that shot him to fame. if convicted, he could spend up to six months in jail. his lawyer has said he would fight the charges. critics say that mr. arpaio<u+2019>s focus on rounding up illegal immigrants took a back seat to investigating crimes like sexual assault. most important, they say he alienated and instilled fear in a large swath of maricopa county<u+2019>s population<u+2014>latinos<u+2014>in his quest to win support from hard-liners and nativist groups. arizona hispanics, who analysts predict voted in<u+00a0>record<u+00a0>numbers<u+00a0>tuesday, likely played a crucial role in unseating mr. arpaio.<u+00a0>about 60% of all arizona<u+2019>s hispanics live in maricopa county, home to the fifth-largest latino population of any county in the u.s. <u+201c>latinos, who have been battling him for years, made a significant contribution to arpaio<u+2019>s defeat,<u+201d> said danny ortega, a phoenix attorney and community leader. <u+201c>there<u+2019>s also voter fatigue. taxpayers realize they are footing his legal bill.<u+201d> indeed, white voters like rick heeder said, <u+201c>you have to see how much he is costing this county. we<u+2019>ve had enough.<u+201d> mr. arpaio<u+2019>s tactics have cost taxpayers nearly $80 million in legal fees, according to independent estimates. the lawsuit accusing the sheriff of racially profiling latinos has alone cost the county $41 million so far. this was mr. penzone<u+2019>s second attempt to unseat the sheriff. he lost to mr. arpaio by six points in 2012. that election, mr. arpaio mounted a campaign that charged his rival with assaulting his ex-wife. this year, the sheriff resurrected the 13-year-old incident that involved protective orders between mr. penzone and his former wife, who said the depiction was inaccurate. mr. penzone<u+2019>s ads touted his crime-fighting credentials and said mr. arapaio was failing to keep residents safe. a 21-year veteran of the phoenix police force, mr. penzone also worked for the u.s. drug enforcement administration. mr. penzone benefited from the support of progressive donors, including billionaire investor george soros and laurene powell jobs, widow of apple founder steve jobs. they gave $2 million and $250,000, respectively, to a political-action committee backing mr. penzone. mr. arpaio raised more than $10 million, mainly from donors outside his state. <u+201c>voters have rejected the poisonous anti-immigrant policies that arpaio symbolized,<u+201d> said whitney tymas, chairwoman of the pac, called maricopa strong. <u+2014>ian lovett contributed to this article. corrections & amplifications: billionaire investor george soros gave $2 million to a political-action committee backing paul penzone. an earlier version of this article incorrectly said mr. soros gave $2.9 million. (nov. 10, 2016) write to miriam jordan at miriam.jordan@wsj.com
arizona sheriff joe arpaio loses bid for seventh term  - wsj
miriam jordan