The New York Times is reporting that former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has lost his bid to return to the office.
Arpaio was one of three candidates in the GOP primary for the position. The other prominent candidate in the race was Jerry Sheridan.
According to figures from the Maricopa County Elections Department, Arpaio is in second place in the race, with 150,116 votes, 6,280 votes behind Sheridan, who has 156,396 votes, The Times reports. The third candidate, Mike Crawford, has 109,966 votes.
Arpaio, who was ousted by voters as Maricopa County Sheriff in 2016, based much of his campaign around his support of President Donald Trump. During his campaign, Arpaio vowed to bring back practices that the courts have either deemed illegal or his successor has ended, including his trademark immigration crackdowns and use of jail tents in the Arizona heat.
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“When I go home tonight and look in the mirror, I can say I gave it everything. I gave it all,” said Arpaio.
Arpaio, 88, was Maricopa County’s sheriff for 24 years, and became something of a tyrannical figure during his time on the job. Fighting illegal immigration was his priorities, while Tent City (which has been closed down) and pink underwear became his personal stamp on his fight against undocumented immigrants.
Arpaio’s political liabilities have been piling up for years and include $147 million in taxpayer-funded legal costs, a failure to investigate more than 400 sex-crime complaints made to the sheriff’s office and launching criminal investigations against judges, politicians and others who were at odds with him.
In addition, Arpaio was accused of racially profiling Hispanics during immigration raids. He was eventually pardoned by Trump.
The primary marks third electoral defeat in four years for Arpaio.
