Sheriff Arpaio Could Derail Brewer's Bid for GOP Governor Nod in Arizona

Despite squabbles with her own party that have hurt her, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer appears to have just one major obstacle before her in the race for the GOP nomination -- and that is whether the popular and controversial Joseph Arpaio, the sheriff of Maricopa County, decides to get into the race.

Brewer has a significant lead over the announced GOP candidates, even though it's not an impressive number for an incumbent. She is ahead of the field with 38 percent followed by businessman Buz Mills at 19 percent, state Treasurer Dean Martin at 16 percent and lawyer John Munger at 3 percent, according to a Public Policy Polling survey conducted April 23-25. Twenty-four percent are undecided.

But if Arpaio, who became nationally-known because of his crackdowns on illegal immigrants, gets into the race, he leads with 33 percent to Brewer's 25 percent, with Martin at 15 percent, Mills at 11 percent and Munger at 1 percent with 15 percent undecided.


Arpaio told an Arizona radio station he would not make a decision until after Monday, (he nixed Monday because Vice President Joseph Biden is visited the state that day).

While Brewer now has the approval of 52 percent of voters for her job performance compared to 30 percent who disapprove, Arpaio is seen favorable by 70 percent and unfavorably by 22 percent. In Brewer's case, 18 percent do not know enough about her to be sure of their opinion compared to only 8 percent who are not sure about Arpaio.

Brewer last week also thrust herself into the national news by signing a tough new immigration law.

"Jan Brewer's standing with voters in her party has seen a huge turnaround since last fall," said PPP's Dean Debnam. "She now appears to be in a solid position for nomination to another term provided that Arpaio stays out of the race."

The primary is in August.

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