Former Sheriff Joe Arpaio, announcing run for U.S. Senate, says, 'I don't run to lose'

Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who for years has teased potential runs for higher office, announced Tuesday that he is running for the U.S. Senate in Arizona.

"I am running for the U.S. Senate from the Great State of Arizona, for one unwavering reason: to support the agenda and policies of President Donald Trump in his mission to Make America Great Again," Arpaio said in a tweet posted to Twitter at 9:06 a.m.

"You know I'm a hard worker and I don't run to lose, so I'll do whatever it takes to win," Arpaio told The Arizona Republic later. "I'm out here to win."

Arpaio mocked the media, saying outlets thought he was "just joking around" and didn't take seriously his talk of a potential Senate run. Over the years, Arpaio toyed multiple times with running for either governor or Senate without entering those races.

"So I'm going to burst your bubble," he said.

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Arpaio's Senate announcement comes less than five months after Trump pardoned him for criminal contempt. That conviction stemmed from a civil case alleging the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office racially profiled Latinos while Arpaio was sheriff.

Voters ousted Arpaio from his sheriff's post in 2016.

At 85, 'I'll outgun anybody'

If elected, Arpaio, 85, would be among the oldest freshman senators in U.S. history. He would be 86 on the day he would take office in January 2019.

Arpaio said he hasn't talked to Trump about an endorsement, but noted that he was an early high-profile supporter of Trump's presidential bid and helped warm up the crowd at an early Trump rally in Phoenix in 2015.

"I'm doing this not just only for him, but for the people for Arizona," Arpaio said.

As for his age, Arpaio says he feels goods at 85.

"I'll outgun anybody running against me or otherwise," Arpaio said. "I wouldn't do this if I felt that I couldn't put all my energy into being elected and also in Washington, doing what I can to help the country and the state. So I feel good about it. I'm not worried about the age."

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In a news release that followed his tweet, Arpaio decried "the smugness" that has taken over the U.S. Senate and reiterated his loyalty to Trump.

“Like most Americans I have sworn to serve and protect all these years, I am sick of the smugness that has taken over the Senate chambers of our Capitol, and I am fed up with career politicians and their talking points, saying one thing and doing another," Arpaio said in the written statement. "It’s past time for the Senate to regain the confidence of the American people — to re-earn it actually — and I am committed to return the Senate to a tough work ethic America expects and deserves."

Democrats respond

Tom Perez, the Democratic National Committee chairman, called Arpaio's Senate candidacy a symptom of "moral decay in the modern Republican Party" and vowed that Democrats "will fight tooth-and-nail" to make sure he never holds public office again.

"Joe Arpaio is one of our nation’s most notorious agents of racism and bigotry," Perez said in a written statement. "He has spent his career tearing apart immigrant families and devastating Latino communities, and he has no place in the U.S. Senate. That’s why Arizona voters kicked him out of office in November, and that’s why I sued him when I led the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. Joe Arpaio’s prejudice didn’t deserve a pardon from President Trump, and it certainly doesn’t deserve a U.S. Senate seat."

READ MORE: How Joe Arpaio became one of America's most polarizing lawmen

The announcement also prompted a swift rebuke from civil-rights advocates such as Cecillia Wang, deputy legal director of the national ACLU and a lead planitiffs’ attorney in the long-running racial-profiling case against Arpaio's office.

In a tweet, Wang wrote: “Arpaio couldn’t even win re-election to the sheriff’s office he held for decades. The people had enough of his racism and the high costs of his refusal to obey the Constitution and the courts. I don’t know whether to laugh or shake my head in disgust.”

Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., is not running for re-election to the seat he's held for one term, saying he didn't believe he could win given Trump's sway over the Republican base.

Kelli Ward, a former state senator from Lake Havasu City, has been in the GOP race for more than a year. She also has been aggressively courting pro-Trump Republican voters and has sought Trump's endorsement.

U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., a Tucson-area congresswoman, is expected to soon enter the race.

Ed Rollins, Ward's campaign chairman, welcomed Arpaio to the race, saying Ward "has great respect" for him.

"His candidacy shows that conservatives in Arizona are fed up with the status quo and know that we need senators who support President Trump and the America First agenda," Rollins said in a written statement.

Rollins used the opportunity to instead take a swing at McSally, whom he described as "just another version of Jeff Flake" and "weak on immigration, supports amnesty, and opposes the border wall."

For his part, Flake, the retiring incumbent, was dismissive and suggested Arpaio's candidacy wouldn't last.

"You can argue that it splits up the vote, the more Trumpy-vote, and makes it easier for Martha McSally," Flake told reporters in Washington. "That assumes that Kelli Ward stays in the race — too little is known. But I will be supremely surprised if Joe Arpaio was in the race a month from now."

There is no love lost between Flake and Arpaio, who recently prevailed in a lawsuit that alleged Arpaio maliciously prosecuted Flake's son, Austin, for political reasons.

Austin Flake had been indicted on 21 counts of animal cruelty in connection with a June 2014 tragedy in which 21 dogs died of heat exhaustion at a kennel near Gilbert. The charges eventually were dropped.

Arpaio undaunted by GOP field

"I'm running my own campaign. I'm not concerned about opponents," Arpaio told The Republic.

He also dismissed a suggestion that his recent re-election loss in Maricopa County is a sign of political weakness.

"I'll run very strong statewide," Arpaio said. "I've never lost a Republican primary, including (2016). I'm running in the Republican primary, so I'm very confident that I can win. Many, many people throughout the land over several months have come to me and asked me to run for the Senate. I finally made up my mind, after talking to my wife of 60 years, to do it."

Chad Willems, who served as Arpaio’s campaign manager throughout his runs for sheriff, will serve in the same role in his run for Senate.

In an interview with The Republic, Willems said Arpaio would not be using money donated to him in previous years for his Senate campaign.

Arpaio has for years asked supporters for donations to his campaigns, for his legal defense fund, and for a political-action committee that promises to support conservative causes.

Willems said Arpaio’s paperwork will be filed Tuesday with the secretary of the Senate, who will in turn file with the Federal Election Commission.

“He just wants to support President Trump and his agenda and his policies,” Willems said. “Like most Americans, he’s sick and tired of things not getting done.”

Willems contrasted Arpaio’s career in law enforcement to what he described as “lifetime politicians.”

“The Washington, D.C., politicians are saying one thing and doing another,” he said. “He just feels that instead of sitting by and watching what’s going on, he’s going to run and try to make a difference.”

Controversies as sheriff

Arpaio’s near quarter-century at the helm of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office was stained with controversies. Though a darling of conservative voters, Arpaio repeatedly faced lawsuits alleging abuse of authority and racial profiling of the Hispanic community by his office.

The octogenarian gained national media attention for gimmicks like the outdoor jail Tent City, and forcing inmates to wear pink underwear and eat green bologna. But he is perhaps best known for a hardline stance on illegal immigration, and tapping his deputies to carry out immigration-enforcement during traffic stops and in workplace raids.

IN DEPTH: Sheriff Joe Arpaio has always done it his way

In 2013, a federal judge found Arpaio’s immigration traffic stops were discriminatory towards Latinos, and ordered sweeping and expensive reforms to the office. By this year, taxpayers are expected to foot near $100 million for that lawsuit alone.

The same lawsuit resulted in a charge of criminal contempt against Arpaio for allegedly failing to abide by the judge’s orders. Arpaio was found guilty of criminal contempt in July, but was pardoned by Trump weeks later. Had he not been pardoned, Arpaio could have faced up to six months in jail.

Nowicki is The Arizona Republic's national political reporter. Follow him on Twitter, @dannowicki. Eliza Collins of USA TODAY contributed to this article.

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