What Penzone Sheriff’s Office, Trump, McCain Regime Could Hold For AZ?

By Lorin McLain

The victory of Paul Penzone over Joe Arpaio is one of the few bright spots for Arizona Democrats in an election that saw the nation go heavy red. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio released a congratulatory statement Tuesday night, promising a smooth transition after losing to Penzone by roughly 55 percent to 44 percent of the vote. Now it remains to be seen how the Democratic sheriff elect’s strategies will contrast with those of Arpaio.

In a speech to supporters that seemed to allude to the backlash to Arpaio’s immigration-control tactics, Penzone said “the only division we should see in the community is between those who commit the crime and those who are willing to hold them accountable.” A Penzone administration could involve staff changes, telling “Mother Jones” his first priority is to hire “the most qualified and principled law enforcement leaders within that organization and possibly some coming from outside that organization.”

Penzone told KTAR news that he sees transparency as a major issue with the MCSO, and it will take hard work to undo a decade or so of mistrust that has been built between the agency and the community. Penzone said he wants to continue the tradition of a posse, and wants to expand it with a diverse membership of younger men and women and different races to reflect the community. With president-elect Donald Trump losing his biggest ally in building a border wall, it will be interesting to see what kind of partner he’ll find in Penzone in immigration control efforts.

Trump’s tough stance on immigration, and with Republicans now holding a clear majority in both houses in Washington, makes any future proposals to resurrect the Dream Act highly unlikely. It’s hard to say what Trump’s pledge to undo all of Obama’s executive orders would have on the DACA program, which protects young immigrants from deportation and allows them to receive work permits. Trump promised to end it, and the DAPA program – which applies to undocumented immigrant parents – if elected during the campaign.

Arizona’s interests to some degree could be impacted by what kind of working relationship will evolve between Trump and Arizona Senator John McCain. McCain has been one of Trump’s harshest critics since the beginning of the campaign, admitting to writing in Senator Lindsay Graham on his ballot instead of voting for Trump. Trump regularly stated one of his major objectives during the campaign was rebuilding the military, and McCain is returning as Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. If Trump wants to pursue a renewed buildup of a military he says is a “disaster,” the two will have to work together.