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AZ-Gov: Goddard Looks Good, But Watch Out for Arpaio

by: Crisitunity

Mon Nov 23, 2009 at 7:46 PM EST


Rasmussen (11/18, likely voters, 9/27 in parentheses, primary numbers here):

Terry Goddard (D): 44 (42)
Jan Brewer (R-inc): 35 (35)
Some other: 9 (13)
Not sure: 12 (11)

Terry Goddard (D): 39
Joe Arpaio (R): 51
Some other: 7
Not sure: 4

Terry Goddard (D): 40
Dean Martin (R): 38
Some other: 11
Not sure: 1
(MoE: ±3%)

Joe Arpaio (R): 47
Dean Martin (R): 22
Jan Brewer (R): 10
John Munger (R): 6
Vernon Parker (R): 6
Some other: 3
Not sure: 7
(MoE: ±4.5%)

Rasmussen is the first pollster to try out Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio in gubernatorial polls, and find he does really well, winning the GOP primary by a wide margin and also being the only Republican who can beat Democratic AG Terry Goddard (the appointed incumbent, Jan Brewer, who's at 39/57 approval, certainly can't). That seems to be mostly a name recognition issue: Arpaio is well-known both statewide and in nationwide anti-immigrant circles for his over-the-top efforts to fight illegal immigration, and he's at 63/31 favorables (which seems to suggest not too many Latinos fit through their likely voter screen!). (He may be best known for other ham-handed tactics, including resumption of chain gangs, pink underwear for inmates, and housing overflow prisoners in tents.)

The thing is, Arpaio hasn't given any indication that he's running. There have been a few burbles of interest from his camp, but they seem more motivated by Arpaio's ongoing conflicts with Goddard and his desire to yank Goddard's chain. The two have clashed not only on immigration enforcement (Goddard is following Obama administration policy to move away from raids as a tactic), but also on ethics, as Goddard is investigating the Sheriff's Command Association for campaign finance violations and Arpaio is investigating Goddard over Goddard's investigation into former state Treasurer David Petersen (who later pled guilty to failing to report income). One other important, oft-overlooked detail: Arpaio is no spring chicken, at 77. (Discussion already underway in ChadinFL's diary.)

RaceTracker Wiki: AZ-Gov

Crisitunity :: AZ-Gov: Goddard Looks Good, But Watch Out for Arpaio
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AZ
Why is Rasmussen even polling him?  Are they trying to prod him into the race?

29/D/Male/NY-01

my guess is yes
Terry Branstad wasn't interesting in running for governor of Iowa either; he even ruled out running for governor again in May.

Then two Republican-commissioned polls in the summer showed him leading Chet Culver, which led to a major recruiting effort by the Iowa GOP's big money men and the Republican Governor's Association. Viola! In August Branstad said he was thinking about getting back into politics.

Then Rasmussen polled the race in September and showed Branstad more than 20 points ahead of Culver. So in October Branstad quit his job and started hiring a campaign team.

I wouldn't be surprised if Republicans try the same trick to help recruit dream candidates elsewhere.


[ Parent ]
I should add that
I assume Rasmussen isn't dreaming up this stuff--other people are paying Rasmussen to conduct polls that will look enticing to would-be candidates.

[ Parent ]
Joe Arpaio
should be in jail. Honestly, would the Republican party even get behind this guy considering what a liability he could be nationally? He makes Tom Tancredo look like Caesar Chavez.

Arpaio had a clean shot at this back in 2002
The Governorship was an open seat then.  Polls showed him sweeping the field, except for J. D. Hayworth, who quickly dropped out of the race.  His Democratic opponent, Janet Napolitano, wasn't as popular then as Goddard is now.  The Ashcroft Justice Department wasn't going to mess with his atrocious prisoner abuse.  It was shaping up to be a good year for Republicans (to be fair, it is this year too).  And the country was in a much more law-and-order mood then than it is now.

He didn't take it then.  He won't take it now.  It's not that he doesn't want to be governor -- it's that he knows that if he isn't sitting in the Maricopa County Sheriff's office, someone is going to go in there and find out proof of what he's done, and he's going to spend the rest of his life getting assbanged in one of his own prisons.  That's especially true with Eric Holder as AG, but if he didn't feel safe in 2002, he certainly won't feel safe now.

The Crolian Progressive: as great an adventure as ever I heard of...


Wanted to also post this information...
I posted in Chad's diary here, on whether there's enough of a xenophobic base in Arizona.  Even though the House races went our way when it came to a Democrat running against a Minuteman-type candidate, the results of Arizona's ballot propositions paints a much more depressing picture.

Look at the ballot propositions in the past two elections.  All the ones related to immigration issues have been won by LARGE margins by the xenophobic side.

In 2006:

Prop. 100: Proposed amendment to the constitution to deny bail to persons charged with serious felonies who are in the US illegally.
Yes 1,170,961 (78%)        No 332,461 (22%)

Prop. 102: Proposed amendment to the constitution to deny the award of punitive damages in civil court cases to persons who are in the US illegally.
Yes 1,102,237 (74%)        No 382,714 (26%)

Prop. 103: Proposed amendment to the constitution to declare English the official language of the state.
Yes 1,114,273 (74%)        No 391,497 (26%)

Prop. 300: Referendum on a proposal to require citizenship for eligibility for various subsidized services such as in-state tuition and financial assistance.
Yes 1,060,444 (71%)        No 423,994 (29%)

And in 2008?

Prop. 202: Proposition 202 changes current Arizona law that prohibits employers from intentionally or knowingly employing an alien who is not authorized under federal law to work in the United States. Under Proposition 202, the definition of "knowingly employ an unauthorized alien" would be changed to require actual knowledge by an owner or officer of the employer.

Prop. 202 was opposed by the Maricopa County Republicans (i.e., Arpaio's folk) and the Minutemen-type groups.  Result?

Yes 725,963 (41%)        No 1,048,966 (59%)

The Minutemen win again.


Now, you could say some of those may have been common sense measures, like bail for illegal aliens who've committed felonies, but the English-only measure, of which a similar measure the Arizona Supreme Court had already ruled unconstitutional back in 1998?  That's spitting in the face of all immigrants, and it passed with 74%.

Given those numbers, no, it's not surprising at all to see Arpaio up so big in the Rasmussen poll.  The state as a whole seems pretty xenophobic to me, judging by those propositions.  If you want to disagree after seeing those statewide numbers, feel free to do so.  I'd love to be wrong here.


Xenophobia doesn't translate cleanly to candidates
For confirmation of that, look at the 2006 GOP primary for governor, which pitted a xenophobe  (Don Goldwater) against a social conservative (Len Munsil).  Here's how that one shook out:

Munsil 50.6%
Goldwater 39.7%

People may like Arpaio when they think of him as Mr. Xenophobia, but actually electing him governor may be something different altogether.  I'm honestly not certain he could get out of a primary, although the current crop of candidates likely won't give him much trouble.

The Crolian Progressive: as great an adventure as ever I heard of...


[ Parent ]
He's in?
A friend of mine in Flagstaff just Facebook messaged me seeming to suggest Arpaio was in.  Is she right?  Can anyone confirm?

30, male, Democratic, CO-01


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