Arizona's lightning-rod sheriff Joe Arpaio loses re-election

(Image credit: John Moore/Getty Images)

published 9 November 2016

In a stunning local result Joe Arpaio, the famous (or infamous) Republican sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, and a strong supporter of Donald Trump, has lost re-election.

Democratic candidate Paul Penzone, a retired police sergeant in Phoenix, currently leads with 55 percent of the vote.

Arpaio, who was promoted by himself and his supporters as "America's Toughest Sheriff," served as county sheriff for 24 years. He was known as an immigration hard-liner, and in recent years had faced investigations and a criminal-contempt charge in a probe involving racial profiling. He had also launched his own "cold case posse" to investigate President Obama's birth certificate and eligibility as a natural-born U.S. citizen to serve as president of the United States.

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"No longer will we be known by the notoriety of one," Penzone told his supporters, The Arizona Republic reports. "The only division we should see in the community is between those who commit the crime and those are willing to hold them accountable."

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