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County supervisor has criticized police, is liberal

Arpaio's endorsing Wilcox questioned

by Martin Van Der Werf - Sept. 12, 1996 03:55 PM The Arizona Republic
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Tuesday was a good day for Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the people he endorsed. The sheriff recorded 16 winners and seven losers on his slate, perhaps the longest list of candidates ever endorsed by a single politician in an election. But the question on everyone's mind Wednesday was about Arpaio's last-minute gambit. Why did he break from his solidly Republican, mostly conservative list of endorsees and throw his weight behind a liberal Democrat for Maricopa County supervisor, Mary Rose Wilcox? Wilcox soundly defeated challenger Tommy Espinoza, winning a second term on the board. Not only is Wilcox the only Democrat Arpaio backed, she has been highly critical of Phoenix police officers for the January 1995 shooting death of Rudy Buchanan Jr. Wilcox and her husband, Earl, held a news conference to denounce the shooting by police as unnecessary and questioned the racial motives of the officers. Buchanan was of mixed Hispanic and African-American descent. The Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, the union for Phoenix police officers, endorsed Espinoza and organized against Wilcox. ''Frankly, I'm not sure the officers will ever forgive her and Earl for what they said,'' said Mike Petchel, the union president. ''The statement that the officers acted with racial bias was unforgivable to us.'' Petchel also is not happy with Arpaio for backing her. ''Nobody knows why Sheriff Joe does what he does, and I wouldn't presume to predict what he'll do next,'' Petchel said. He added that he doesn't expect a rift to develop between Phoenix police officers and the Sheriff's Office. Arpaio said he backed Wilcox because Wilcox supported him in a county board vote on an issue involving the payment of benefits to his officers. He would not elaborate on it. He also pointed out that she is one of five people who have a vote on the size of his budget. ''Helping my people is my job, first and foremost,'' Arpaio said. ''If I have to go to the devil to protect my employees, to get them raises, to get them the equipment they need to fight crime, I will do it.'' Asked whether he was bothered by the perception that he was supporting someone who had openly criticized the law-enforcement community, Arpaio said, ''I don't play the political game or the perception game. I just made a statement about what she did for me. If Mike Petchel doesn't like it, I don't know what to say to him. ''I can't say how much my endorsement helped her. If she won because of it, good.'' There were other influences on Arpaio in making the endorsement. Insiders said former Sen. Dennis DeConcini, D-Ariz., asked Arpaio to lend his support to Wilcox, who once worked for DeConcini. Arpaio acknowledged that he had received calls from DeConcini, with whom he worked for years when Arpaio led the local office of the Drug Enforcement Administration and DeConcini was a senator keenly interested in drug trafficking along the U.S.-Mexico border. ''He (DeConcini) said she was a good lady and had done a good job,'' Arpaio said. ''We talk often; he endorsed my book. He would never ask me to endorse anyone, but he thought Mary Rose was good for the community, and I agreed.'' Wilcox said she thought Arpaio's endorsement helped. ''I think it was part of the whole picture of support I had,'' Wilcox said. ''The sheriff is so in tune with the community, they know I have a lot of support in the community. He said I had always been there for him and his community. That pretty much said it all.''

Wilcox said she plans to meet next week with Petchel to discuss some of his concerns. Petchel said he accepted the invitation because ''she has been duly elected, and I respect the office she has been elected to.'' Wilcox has no challengers in the general election. Tuesday was a kingmaking day for Arpaio, whose endorsement is sought like no one else's in Arizona politics. He stood at election headquarters Tuesday night watching returns coming in and repeatedly referred to three index cards in his shirt pocket where he had written the names of those people he had endorsed. He checked off the winners and losers like a bookie marking his wagers. Both of his county supervisor candidates, Wilcox and Fulton Brock, won. Two justice of the peace candidates he backed won: Jacque McVay and Brian Lamb. A third, Kerry G. Passey, lost. In the Legislature, the list of candidates Arpaio supported was closely tied to the slate backed by Rep. Jeff Groscost, R-Mesa, a conservative firebrand who hopes to be House majority leader and pack the House with followers. Arpaio, despite his reverential status in the party and 89 percent approval rating, had mixed success in the legislative races in which he became involved. Both Groscost and Karen Johnson, whom he supported in the east Valley's District 30, won. In the northwest Valley's District 16, again both of Arpaio's candidates won: incumbent Rep. Jim Weiers and challenger Linda Gray. But his other candidates had losses elsewhere across the board to less conservative candidates. Both of Arpaio's people in District 24 in northeast Phoenix, Lindy Funkhouser and Kathryn Baillie, lost to more moderate candidates Tom Horne and Barbara Leff. His conservative candidate from Chandler, Tom Chiodo, lost to the more moderate Richard Kyle. In Glendale, Arpaio's candidate, Glenn Marion, lost to moderate Roberta Voss. Harold Van Gilder of Sierra Vista, who was backed by Arpaio, lost to moderate incumbent Lou-Ann Preble of Tucson. Jerry Harris, who is tied pending a recount in north-central Phoenix's District 18, may also lose, again to a moderate, Susan Gerard.