So far, Paul Babeu isn’t scaring anyone away.
Despite personal scandal derailing his congressional bid three years ago, the Arizona sheriff and immigration hawk is proving popular with some top-tier Republican presidential candidates looking to bolster their border security credentials. In conjunction with the Arizona Security and Prosperity Project, Babeu was scheduled to host a Monday evening tele-town hall featuring Carly Fiorina. Ben Carson is scheduled to participate in a similar event at an unspecified date.
Babeu’s 2012 campaign stalled when a Mexican immigrant he was romantically involved with accused him of threatening to deport him if he publicized their relationship. Babeu acknowledged that he was gay but denied any wrongdoing and was later exonerated. He won re-election as Pinal County sheriff a year later. As the 2016 campaign heats up, Babeu is again a top tier congressional candidate — and again proving popular with GOP contenders.
“Carly enjoys tele-town halls, answering voters questions,” Fiorina campaign spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said, in an email exchange with the Washington Examiner. “We have ones coming up in Ohio and Texas as well.”
Carson, who has agreed to take questions in an upcoming Arizona Security and Prosperity Project tele-town hall, joined Babeu over the summer for a tour of the Grand Canyon State’s border with Mexico. The organization has invited all major Republican presidential candidates, plus Democratic hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, to participate in tele-town halls. Babeu served as honorary chairman of the group, a 501(c)4, until he announced his bid for the open 1st congressional district.
Babeu, 46, is a strong contender for that House seat, according to Nathan Gonzales, a nonpartisan analyst in Washington and publisher of the Rothenberg and Gonzales Political Report. The second term sheriff is nationally recognized figure in the fight to strengthen border security and stop illegal immigration, making him an attractive figure to associate with for Republican presidential candidates looking burnish their conservative credentials on these politically charged topics.
But some Arizona Republicans question the wisdom of doing so given the intense — and at times, unfair — scrutiny that goes hand in hand with running for president. “He’s got issues that are going to be rehashed that are very controversial and I don’t understand what the Fiorina people are thinking,” said Steve Voeller, a Republican consultant in Phoenix, who is not involved in either the presidential race or the Arizona 1st district campaign.
A second Grand Canyon State GOP insider said it was a mistake for the Fiorina campaign or any other candidate’s presidential team to agree to headline a tele-town hall moderated by Babeu, saying it wasn’t just poor vetting by them but “no vetting at all.”
But Brian Seitchik, executive director the Arizona Security and Prosperity Project, said the group has experienced absolutely no blowback from its high profile connection to Babeu. He rejected the premise that it’s risky for presidential contenders to appear with Babeu because of a story about personal foibles that is three years old — and old history.
“He’s been a very effective sheriff,” Seitchik said. “He’s very popular in the county and across the state.”
If he’s right, Babeu could play an influential role in Arizona’s GOP primary. The state will select its choice for Republican presidential nominee in March, in what could be the crucible of a crowded and competitive national primary battle, with the winner making off with all 58 delegates to the 2016 convention in Cleveland. Approximately 1,236 delegates are needed to secure the nomination.
Mike Noble, the general consultant running Babeu’s congressional bid, said there’s no evidence to support the notion that the sheriff’s image or political future is being hampered by an old scandal. That’s especially the case, Noble said, because there wasn’t much too it, as revealed by an investigation into the matter by the state attorney general that Babeu himself requested.
An internal poll for Babeu’s congressional campaign conducted by Noble showed the sheriff leading the field of GOP primary candidates with 43 percent. More importantly to Noble, Babeu’s personal favorability rating was 68 percent; only 14 percent viewed him negatively, with 18 percent expressing no opinion. Additionally, nearly a third of respondents said immigration, the sheriff’s strong suit, was their No. 1 campaign issue. The Oct. 7 poll of 484 GOP primary voters had an error margin of 4.45 percent.
“Everyone knows about the 2012 stuff. But do they judge you on your contribution, or on stuff that he was ultimately exonerated?” Noble said, adding, in answer to his question: “He’s done a good job as sheriff.”
