Eliza Collins

USA TODAY

Now that prison isn’t an option for Joe Arpaio, he may just run for political office. The former sheriff of Arizona’s most populous county is not ruling out taking on Arizona Republican Jeff Flake in 2018, although he has no plans to do so as of now.

On Monday, just days after President Trump pardoned the controversial figure, Arpaio told the Washington Examiner he could “run for mayor, I could run for legislator, I could run for Senate.”

Later on Monday, in an interview with USA TODAY, Arpaio said he knows he wants to be involved in politics, though that could range from fundraising for candidates to running for political office himself.

“I don’t really know, I don’t know if I want to run for office again,” Arpaio told USA TODAY. Arpaio held his post for 24 years and is now 85 years old. “I don’t even know if I did (run), what seat I would run for.”

Arpaio has floated running for office before, including against former Republican Sen. Jon Kyl and to take a shot at being Arizona's governor.

“I’m keeping open that I may run for political office because that’s part of the political system,” Arpaio continued.

And whether or not he’d run against Flake, who's up for re-election next year, Arpaio was “disturbed” that the senator said he “would have preferred that the president honor the judicial process and let it take its course" than pardon Arpaio.

“I was very discouraged the way (Flake) was not in the president’s corner ... about a pardon,” Arpaio said. “Before making the case that I should not be pardoned right away, why didn’t (Flake) look into what my whole story was?”

Arpaio added that Flake, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, should have used his post on the committee to look into Arpaio’s case before weighing in.

Arpaio received Trump’s first pardon Friday night, a move that was criticized by lawmakers on both sides, including Arizona’s two GOP senators. Arpaio was convicted last month of failing to reform the sheriff’s department after a judge ordered Arpaio and his deputies to stop using racial profiling. He faced up to six months in jail.

Arpaio has not spoken to the president since he pardoned him, he told USA TODAY.

On Monday afternoon, Trump told reporters he had pardoned Arpaio Friday night as Hurricane Harvey barreled toward the U.S. because "I assumed the ratings would be far higher than they would be normally."

"A lot of people think it was the right thing to do," Trump said about why he issued the pardon. "He is loved in Arizona, I thought he was treated unbelievably unfairly.”

Trump then went on to list previous presidential pardons.

Contributing: Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, Dan Nowicki in Phoenix, Ariz.