Maricopa County chief deputy sheriff and longtime Republican appointed as new sheriff

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors on Thursday named as sheriff a longtime Republican who recently switched political parties to meet an eligibility requirement for the appointment.

Russ Skinner, chief deputy sheriff of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office since 2018, was made sheriff with a 4-to-1 party-line vote, with the Republican supervisors voting in his favor.

Skinner registered as a Republican in May 1987 but switched to Democrat on Oct. 3, 2023, one day after former Sheriff Paul Penzone, a Democrat, announced he would step down. State law required the supervisors to appoint someone of Penzone's political party.

Jack Sellers, chair of the board, addressed the party change.

“In my opinion, and in the opinion of a lot of people I talked to, law enforcement should not be a partisan political position. And so we, as a group, really discounted that,” he said.

Sellers said they were looking for an appointee who already had the trust of the Sheriff’s Office staff and other law enforcement agencies in the county.

“We need someone who could step in on day one,” he said.

Skinner described himself as “apolitical.” He said he quickly chose to switch to the Democratic Party after Penzone announced that he would be leaving office.

He said he had “no intention of switching back” to the Republican Party and had not yet decided if he would run for sheriff, he said.

He said that he felt he could take on the 2024 election cycle, fentanyl and other deaths in the jails, and the compliance measures required of the office by a federal court. His familiarity with the office's processes will be a benefit, he said. Skinner has worked in the Sheriff's Office for 33 years.

Although Supervisor Steve Gallardo, the board's lone Democrat, voted against the appointment, he said he looked forward to working with Skinner. Gallardo said that mistrust stemming from the era of former Sheriff Joe Arpaio still weighs heavily on the community.

“There’s a trust factor that needs to be dealt with — concrete steps in building that trust, way more than just an advisory board," Gallardo said.

Skinner acknowledged a “stain” remains on the department from Arpaio. The department is under federal court oversight because of racial profiling that occurred while Arpaio was sheriff.

Skinner will serve until the person elected sheriff in November is sworn in.

As of Feb. 5, five people have filed paperwork to run for sheriff. Four are Republicans — Frank Crawford, Jerry Sheridan, Joel Paul Franklin Ellis and Joe Melone — and one is a Democrat, Tyler Kamp.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Maricopa County Chief Deputy Sheriff Russ Skinner appointed sheriff