Sheriff candidates Tyler Kamp, Jerry Sheridan pivot to the general election

For the first time in at least 20 years, there will be no incumbent in the general election for Maricopa County sheriff.

Democrat Tyler Kamp, a former shift commander, gang enforcement sergeant and homicide detective for the Phoenix Police Department, will face Republican Jerry Sheridan, who was the chief deputy of the Sheriff’s Office under former Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Kamp defeated current Sheriff Russ Skinner in the primary election for the Democratic spot on the general election ballot. Skinner, who has served for 43 years at the Sheriff’s Office and was appointed in February to replace former Sheriff Paul Penzone, was running for a full term.

Sheridan, who made it to the general election in the 2020 sheriff's race but ultimately lost to Penzone, defeated Frank Milstead, the former head of Arizona's Department of Public Safety and the Mesa Police Department, and Mike Crawford, a former Glendale police officer, in the primary.

Here's what the two Sheriff's Office contenders had to say about how they plan to persuade voters and what's ahead for Skinner during his remaining months as sheriff.

'I don't come from that culture,' Kamp says of not working under Arpaio

Kamp attributed his win to support from family and friends and the endorsement of the Maricopa County Democratic Party.

He said he heard from voters on the campaign trail who liked his professional background — since leaving the Phoenix police in 2021, he has worked in law enforcement development in West Africa and in executive protection for a local antipoverty company — and that he wasn’t entrenched in the Sheriff’s Office and didn’t serve under former Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

“I don’t come from that culture, that era,” Kamp said. “I think we should keep moving forward and building on the successes of Sheriff Penzone.”

Kamp said as he focuses on the general election, he will remind voters of Sheridan’s connections to federal court oversight measures stemming from a racial profiling lawsuit that is ongoing.

The Melendres racial profiling case began in 2008 when Latino drivers sued the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, which was then led by Arpaio, alleging they were racially profiled. U.S. District Court Judge G. Murray Snow agreed and, in 2013, mandated court oversight of the Sheriff's Office. Snow ordered reforms to weed out racial profiling in the Sheriff's Office.

Penzone inherited the lawsuit and its mandates when he took office in 2017 after ousting Arpaio. During his seven years in office, he could not satisfy all the lawsuit requirements. He lamented the continued federal oversight, citing it as one of his reasons for stepping down. Penzone said the Melendres case was a distraction from the Sheriff's Office's other work, calling it "one cloud still hanging over this office."

“Mr. Sheridan was on the forefront of why the Sheriff’s Office received the lawsuit and is now still subject to those court orders,” Kamp said. “I think Sheriff Penzone did a great job to get us out of the hole that Joe Apraio and Jerry Sheridan created. And it would be a mistake for our community to go back to that way of thinking.”

Kamp said he thinks his campaign can appeal to moderate voters and even conservatives who favor a tough-on-crime approach.

“What people don't understand is that we can have two truths. We can uphold the law, but we can also provide restorative justice,” Kamp said.

“Holding people accountable makes us safer,” Kamp said. “But if we can provide people with educational opportunities and career development while they’re locked up, so when they exit our jails they’re finding good jobs and they’re being good citizens — that makes us safer as well.”

Sheridan says he's not Arpaio, would be 'constitutional sheriff'

Sheridan bested the two other candidates in the Republican primary, raising more than $340,000 and winning more than 50% of the votes. Milstead and Crawford did not respond to requests for comment after the election.

Many Republican voters said they liked Sheridan’s promises to bring back elements of the Arpaio era, but Sheridan acknowledged he has work to do distinguishing himself from Arpaio in an attempt to appeal to general election voters.

“Don’t forget, I was there for 40 years. I worked for four sheriffs,” said Sheridan, who served under Arpaio for 24 years.

Sheridan said he did not seek Arpaio’s endorsement in the 2020 or 2024 primary elections for sheriff.

“So I don't know what else I can do,” he said. “I can't change history. I just have to work hard.”

He said his No. 1 priority will be increasing staffing and "stopping the bleeding” of employees leaving the Sheriff’s Office over what he claims are the unpopular policies of the Skinner and Penzone administrations.

Sheridan said he would "protect everyone's civil rights here in Maricopa County because that's the way the Constitution was written."

He described that position as being a "constitutional sheriff" and said, "That shouldn't scare anyone in this country."

In recent years, a right-wing "constitutional sheriffs" ideology has emerged. The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks extremist groups and movements, defines the ideology as one that suggests sheriffs have the power to circumvent the U.S. system of governmental checks and balances and make their own determinations about which laws are constitutional. In the U.S., the judicial branch has the power to determine whether laws are permissible under the Constitution.

In further describing what he meant about being a "constitutional sheriff," Sheridan said he supported the actions of a New Mexico sheriff who refused to enforce a 2023 emergency order from the governor that would have suspended the right to carry firearms in public in Albuquerque.

“The sheriff stood up and said, ‘You can't do that. That is unconstitutional.’ That's how it works. OK? In my mind, that's how this works,” Sheridan said.

Sheridan said he would distinguish himself from Kamp by emphasizing his experience in the Sheriff’s Office, highlighting his knowledge of the office as a strength. Sheridan said he worked his way up through the ranks from a volunteer to eventually become chief deputy, the second-in-command.

“There's so many issues with the Sheriff's Office," Sheridan said. "It's so much different than a police department because we have the jails."

Sheridan said Penzone, who previously worked for the Phoenix Police Department, "was in way over his head."

“It wouldn't be any different for Kamp," Sheridan said.

What is Sheriff Skinner's plan for the remainder of his time in office?

Reached by phone Thursday, Skinner said he would not be making any political endorsements.

“I wasn’t a political person going into this, and I wasn’t successful at it,” Skinner said. “It was a very enlightening experience.”

He said simultaneously trying to run the Sheriff's Office while running a campaign proved to be too much.

Skinner said he was proud of the Sheriff’s Office for helping to provide a safe and secure election process, which was his number one priority.

He did not rule out a future run at politics but said he was focused on finishing his term for the time being.

“The good thing is, this has given me full 100% focus and clarity of what needs to be done until whichever successful candidate takes office,” Skinner said. “I'll make sure that we continue the path forward in supporting this agency.”

Skinner said his priorities until a new sheriff is sworn in are maintaining security for the general election, lobbying for improved staff benefits and compensation and making progress on compliance with federal court orders.

Have a news tip? Reach the reporter at [email protected] or 812-243-5582. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @JimmyJenkins.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Sheriff hopefuls Tyler Kamp, Jerry Sheridan pivot to general election