What are voters saying about the Maricopa County sheriff candidates?

It has been more than 20 years since both Democrats and Republicans had competitive primaries for Maricopa County sheriff.

In 2024, voters on both sides of the political spectrum have choices for the first time in a long time.

Frank Milstead, the former head of Arizona's Department of Public Safety and the Mesa Police Department, Jerry Sheridan, a former chief deputy in the Sheriff's Office, and Mike Crawford, a former Glendale police officer, are running for the Republican nomination.

Sheriff Russ Skinner, who was appointed to the job in February, and former Phoenix police officer Tyler Kamp are running for the Democratic nomination.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office is one of the largest sheriff's offices in the nation, with upward of 3,000 employees, including deputies, jail guards and civilians.

The Sheriff's Office patrols unincorporated areas of the county and municipalities without a designated police force. It also serves Superior Court orders and warrants, collects delinquent taxes, coordinates search and rescue missions and oversees the county's five jails.

The Arizona Republic spoke with Maricopa County voters and sheriff's race donors to learn why they care about the role and hear who they prefer in the primary and why.

See all 2024 Arizona primary races

A recap of everything: When is Arizona's primary? Election day is July 30. Here is a voter guide to help you learn about all the candidates.

What are voters saying about the Republican primary race?

Spike Lawrence, a property developer who lives in Chandler, donated to Milstead's campaign because he liked the way he ran the state Department of Public Safety, he said.

"Frank has been a solid law enforcement guy his whole life," Lawrence said. "And he's well-respected."

Lawrence said the sheriff's race was important to him because he looks for safe communities in which to invest.

"Safe streets, clean streets — that's what really matters to communities," said Lawrence, calling public safety a "nonpartisan issue."

Geroge Cuprak, a registered Republican since he was a teenager, is now retired and living in central Phoenix. He's also backing Milstead because of his experience running the state police.

"I want someone who can focus on the job of being sheriff and not be out chasing microphones and cameras," Cuprak said. "So, of the three Republican candidates, I like the fact Milstead seems to be able to work in the background and get the job done."

Several voters said they were supporting Sheridan because they believed he would bring back tactics from the administration of former Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who branded himself as "America's toughest sheriff." Sheridan was once Arpaio's second-in-command, though the former sheriff endorsed Milstead in this election.

While Sheridan has acknowledged it would not likely be legally possible, he has expressed interest in bringing back something akin to Arpaio's infamous Tent City Jail, like a barracks.

"It was effective because people didn't want to go there, so they didn't commit crimes," said Annette Younkins, a retired resident of Phoenix's Ahwatukee neighborhood. She said she's voting for Sheridan because she hopes he will bring back a more "tough on crime" approach.

Glen McCracken, an emergency room physician, donated to Sheridan. He said he's noticed an uptick in property crimes in his neighborhood and an increase in fentanyl overdoses in the ER.

"Someone's got to do something about all this, and I think the sheriff's department is quintessentially positioned to have an impact," McCracken said.

McCracken said he thought Sheridan would "bring his experience to the job." Sheridan worked for the Sheriff's Office for 38 years full-time, according to his campaign website.

"He's somebody who will be tough on crime but also has compassion," McCracken said. "I think he has a true desire to do the right thing for everybody."

Sheri Lopez, who lives in Scottsdale and runs a human trafficking awareness nonprofit, supports Mike Crawford. Lopez said she was a victim of trafficking herself, and Crawford is the only candidate she's communicated with who she feels is passionate about the issue.

"He showed up, he listened and he wants to make a difference in that area where nobody else would pay attention," she said.

Lopez said sheriff's deputies are often part of the law enforcement effort to recover trafficked children.

She thinks Crawford is in the race for the right reasons, and she likes that he supports using volunteer posses.

Virginia Corris is also a fan of the posses. Now retired and serving as a precinct committee person for Legislative District 12, she served as an armed posse member working patrols for several years with her late husband, who worked in the Sheriff's Office.

"We would do training and qualification every six months," Corris said of her participation as an armed volunteer. She said they would do foot patrols at malls, and she also worked at the intake jail in Mesa for five years.

She said she would make up her mind on primary day. She was on the fence between Crawford and Sheridan.

What are voters saying about the Democratic primary race?

Skinner, who replaced former Sheriff Paul Penzone, is running for a full term. A longtime Republican, he switched parties on Oct. 3, 2023, one day after Penzone, a Democrat, announced he would step down. State law required the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to appoint someone of Penzone's political party as his replacement.

Kamp previously worked as a shift commander, gang enforcement sergeant and homicide detective for the Phoenix Police Department. He is a fifth-generation resident of Maricopa County with more than two decades of law enforcement experience.

Both candidates have tried to portray themselves as apolitical, career law enforcement officers who put community service first.

Attorney Rana Lashgari, who previously worked as a Phoenix city prosecutor, said the Maricopa County sheriff wields a lot of power because it is the fourth-largest county in the U.S. by population.

"It's really important to me that we have a sheriff that has integrity, has a clean record, no past scandals or drama, has an upstanding reputation, and has actual leadership experience to be able to lead the sheriff's agency," Lashgari said. She donated to Skinner and has been telling her friends from all political parties to support him.

"I think one of the things that sets him apart is that he's not a professional politician. He's a public servant," she said. "He has the respect of his deputies, and he stays above all of the political drama that we're all very tired of, and I really appreciate that."

Joe Rodriguez, who owns a business in Maricopa County, donated to support Kamp's campaign. He says a county's reputation is important for generating a positive business environment, "and unfortunately, in years past, Arizona has a national reputation for this Sheriff's Office, and it wasn't a good one."

He said Kamp's character and leadership would go a long way toward restoring respect to the office and the community. He is also concerned about the ongoing costs taxpayers are incurring because the Sheriff's Office continues to be out of compliance with federal court oversight measures stemming from a racial profiling lawsuit.

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."

Because Kamp was not part of the agency that incurred those ongoing costs, Rodriguez thinks he is the best candidate to lead the department in an effort to reach compliance and end the financial burden to the county.

"He has the drive to try to make positive changes and to be willing to work through issues in a constructive way," Rodriguez said. "That's a rare commodity in today's body politic."

Mary McGillicuddy of central Phoenix was still undecided.

"I think making sure our law enforcement at the county level is doing their job respectfully and appropriately is important, especially in the aftermath of Joe Arpaio," she said. "It's so important to have a department — and a sheriff — with integrity."

She said she is looking for a candidate who can acknowledge the department's racial profiling past to make sure it doesn't happen again.

While she is a registered Democrat, McGillicuddy said party affiliation doesn't matter as much for a position like sheriff.

"It's more about their priorities and what they're running for," she said.

Arpaio's legacy hangs over sheriff's race

Arpaio was first elected sheriff in 1992, and his legacy, particularly the racial profiling case and his policies targeting undocumented immigrants, still looms large over the office even though he lost to Penzone in 2016 and to Sheridan in the Republican primary in 2020.

Raul Pina, a member of the Community Advisory Board that works with the Sheriff's Office and the federal court on Melendres compliance, is not endorsing any candidates. But he said the community could not afford to return to the ways of Arpaio, and people should not support any candidates who align themselves with the former sheriff's policies.

"We don't want to go down that route because that would be disastrous," Pina said. "We would lose all the progress we've made and could even bring about even more supervision for the court."

Indigenous rights organizer Salvador Reza of Phoenix said he would be leaving his ballot blank.

"None of them are ideal to me," Reza said, noting some candidates are associating themselves with Arpaio's legacy or worked under him. "I don't trust any of them."

Republican candidate Sheridan leads in fundraising

Sheridan was leading the field in fundraising by a wide margin in the sheriff's race.

Sheridan reported raising more than $340,000 as of July 26, which is more than both of his Republican primary opponents combined.

Milstead reported a cumulative total of more than $169,000, while Crawford raised more than $150,000.

Sheridan's haul is more than both Democrat candidates' fundraising combined.

Skinner reported raising over $124,000, while Kamp brought in more than $80,000.

Despite spending the most money on the race, Sheridan still had more than $50,000 in the bank. Crawford reported having more than $52,000 in cash on hand. Milstead provided receipts showing he had spent most of his funds, with just over $12,000 remaining.

Kamp, who raised the least among all candidates for sheriff, still had more than $56,000 cash on hand and reported spending only $23,000. Skinner reported having more than $5,000 in funds left.

Reach the reporter at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: What are voters saying about the Maricopa County sheriff candidates?