While an overwhelming number of Latinos came to the polls in Arizona, it was Republicans that voted against the notorious Arizona sheriff, a new report from Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting revealed this week.
In traditionally Republican precincts in of his county, Arpaio's support plummeted. Despite the best efforts from labor unions, latino groups and the Democratic party, in 2012, Arpaio beat Paul Penzone by about 80,000 votes. In 2016, Penzone won over Arpaio by 196,000 votes. About 70 percent of the 276,000 people that swung away from Arpaio and voted for Penzone were from Republican-leaning precincts.
In precincts that leaned Democratic, Arpaio earned about the same percentage of votes that Donald Trump did. In the GOP-leaning areas, however, Trump voters were unwilling to support his friend. Arpaio earned only 49.3 percent to Trump's 54.3 percent.
[caption id="attachment_953089" align="aligncenter" width="554"] (Chart via AZCIR.org)[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_953090" align="aligncenter" width="606"] (Chart via AZCIR.org)[/caption]
The report quotes Chuck Coughlin, a Phoenix-based Republican political consultant, who thinks the lawsuits eventually chipped away at Arpaio's support from fiscal conservatives.
“The money was the last tile in the mosaic,” Coughlin said.
Earlier this year, The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors were forced to approved $4.5 million more taxpayer dollars that had to go to pay for the $48 million lawsuit over racial profiling by Arpaio's Sheriff's office. That's when Coughlin said the Republicans on the board started to walk away from the notorious sheriff.
