New poll shows Arpaio's popularity slipping

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's popularity has taken a significant hit during the past year, according to a poll released Tuesday by the Behavior Research Center.

Voters who think Arpaio is doing an excellent or good job now stands at 54 percent, down from 64 percent last year. Likewise, those who think the sheriff is doing a poor job rose to 28 percent from 16 percent, according to the survey.

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The sheriff’s crackdown on illegal immigration as well as stories about the agency’s slow response times to serious emergency calls and budget deficits are fueling the sheriff’s decline in his near legendary past approval ratings, said Earl de Berge, who conducted the poll July 18-24. The Tribune recently examined those issues in the context of Arpaio’s illegal immigration enforcement effort in a five-part series.

“It’s my sense that voters think he’s too heavy-handed when it comes to illegal immigration,” de Berge said. “That he’s not spending enough time fighting serious violent crimes.”

The numbers would be considered high for any other politician. Over the years, the sheriff has famously touted his high approval ratings at press conferences and other public forums as evidence that he’s among one of the most popular politicians in the state.

But despite the dip in his approval ratings, Arpaio still holds a 14-point lead over Dan Saban, the Democratic candidate for sheriff. Saban, who also trails Arpaio by about $400,000 in fundraising, said Tuesday it “was a good place to start.”

“He’s got a political and media war machine and to have him down to 54 percent shows that people are tired of this and want professional law enforcement,” said Saban.

But Arpaio sees it differently. The sheriff maintains his approval ratings haven’t dropped at all and said he’s not going to pay much attention to one poll. “If I’m down, then why is everyone still asking for my endorsement?” Arpaio said. “With all the hits I take in the media, I’m still doing pretty good.”

The survey also showed that Arpaio’s public persona is so strong and focused only on him that that it neither “helped nor hurt political allies.” For example, despite Arpaio’s much publicized feud with Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, Gordon’s popularity among Phoenix voters was 53 percent, according to the poll.

On the other hand, Arpaio has a strong alliance with County Attorney Andrew Thomas, a Republican. The poll found that Thomas is only modestly well-known and his job approval rating have remained almost unchanged at 33 percent.