FOUNTAIN HILLS, Ariz.—When “America’s Toughest Sheriff” Joe Arpaio wore a younger man’s uniform—times were different in Maricopa County, Arizona.
The streets and neighborhoods felt relatively safer. The now porous southern border was less like Swiss cheese, the fentanyl scourge but a specter in the future.
In Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s no-nonsense, law-and-order world, you got locked up if you did the crime. It didn’t matter if you were a Democrat or a Republican—“I locked them all up.”
Sometimes, you got locked up with a chain gang or were issued pink underwear and fed bologna sandwiches on dry bread as you did your penance to society.
Joseph Arpaio, "America's Toughest Sheriff" holds up his latest clean bill of health as he runs for mayor of Fountain Hills, Ariz., on Sept. 26, 2023. Allan Stein/The Epoch Times
Sheriff Joe Arpaio initiated these targeted programs to combat crime and drugs and boost his public image to good effect.
Those days are well behind Mr. Arpaio, who turned 91 in June. But he has no regrets or intention of riding off into the golden sunset of retirement.
In August, the widely known nonagenarian launched his second bid to become the mayor of Fountain Hills, Arizona, losing to three-term incumbent Ginny Dickey by 213 votes last year.
“I’m running to be mayor—I’m still running. I continue,” Mr. Arpaio said, seated behind his desk at campaign headquarters on yet another sunny afternoon in Fountain Hills, an incorporated town of 24,000 residents on the outskirts of the state capital Phoenix.
Today, he’s dressed in a casual gray blazer, tan buttoned summer shirt, neatly cut and parted gray hair, and glasses firmly on his nose.
His colorful, often controversial past reads like the front page of a large metro newspaper—literally—as he’s surrounded by framed news articles mounted on the walls of his office.
He feels good about his former career in law enforcement and the challenges of living up to his public persona fighting crime and corruption.
Feeling Better
He feels even better about his political future, age notwithstanding.“People don’t even talk about my age because they see me out there [campaigning] every day,” he says, though some of his enemies claim—not too loudly—“He’s too old. Look at Biden.”
To which he responds, “I’m not Biden. So why keep bringing up age? Judge everybody individually.”
It’s a valid question, he admits, in light of President Biden’s (age 80) televised struggles with teleprompters and climbing stairs, and Republican U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell’s (age 81) sudden freeze-ups on camera.
“Let me get something clear: I am very disturbed at people saying [Mr. Biden] is too old—especially with me,” Mr. Arpaio told The Epoch Times. “But I think I crossed the hump on that when I lost” in the last mayoral election.
“I’m getting more support when I roam the streets than if I won.”
In matters of age and politics, Americans seem split sharply on these topics. A recent Pew Research Center poll found that 65 percent expressed extreme dissatisfaction with politics in general—to the point of exhaustion.
“Positive views of many governmental and political institutions are at historic lows,” according to the Sept. 19 nationwide poll.
At 91, former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is running for mayor in Fountain Hills, Ariz. Photo taken on Sept. 26, 2023. Allan Stein/The Epoch Times
The poll found that just 16 percent of the public trusted the federal government “always or most of the time,” while 28 percent “disliked both political parties.”
Regarding a politician’s age, most poll respondents supported age and term limits and eliminating the Electoral College.
In November 2021, Vito Perillo made headlines when he won reelection to a second term as mayor of Tinton Falls, New Jersey (population 18,000) and became the nation’s oldest mayor at 97.
The mayor told local news outlets that, unlike the media, his two closest opponents did not make his age an issue in the race. He turns 100 on Sept. 22, 2024.
“I feel really good,” Mr. Perillo told NJ.com regarding his health. “After my last physical, two months ago, I was glad when my family physician told me don’t come back for another two years.”
The oldest U.S. mayor was Charles Long of Booneville, Kentucky, who died at age 99 on Aug. 3, 2019.
Ready to Serve
In 2022, at age 18, Jaylen Smith was elected the youngest mayor of Earle, Arkansas (population 1,785) and one of the youngest mayors in U.S. history, beating his opponent with nearly 56 percent of the vote.Like his much older counterparts in other municipalities, Mr. Smith believes the desire to make a positive difference—not age—should determine one’s success in public office.
“Public service is about serving, and what that looks like [is] someone who’s willing to serve the people,” Mr. Smith told The Epoch Times.
“You can have 40 years of experience and do nothing with that experience, and someone with no experience [who] can do more than the person with the experience.”
His priorities running for office as a Democrat included improving public safety and underused housing renewal.
“It’s about who’s ready to be willing to make a difference for the people,” added Mr. Smith, a 2022 graduate of Earle High School.
Jaylen Smith, 18, is the current mayor of Earle, Arkansas. File photo
In Fountain Hills, the race for mayor is a non-partisan event, although Republican candidate Joe Arpaio says that partisanship gets involved much too often.
City Clerk Linda Mendenhall said that only two candidates—Joseph Arpaio and Gerry Friedel—had filed a statement of interest in the 2024 mayoral race.
“It is an open race, and the candidates have until 5 p.m. on April 8, 2024, to file their signature petitions to be placed on the ballot,” Ms. Mendenhall told The Epoch Times.
Mayor Ginny Dickey, who served on the town council in Fountain Hills for more than eight years, told The Epoch Times she has not announced her plans.
While Mr. Friedel said it was too early in the race for making official comments, regarding age: “I think everyone has the right to run, and the voters will decide on who they believe will be the best person to serve them and their needs.”
Now or Never
Mr. Arpaio makes no bones about supporting Donald Trump in his current legal troubles and running for president as a Republican.He also feels it’s time that he focus less on his five decades in law enforcement and more on his civic agenda if and when he becomes the next mayor of Fountain Hills.
Fighting crime, of course, will be a top priority.
“My interest is this town. When they say I’m too old—I’ve never been in a hospital overnight” for a severe health issue, Mr. Arpaio said. “Do you know anyone 91 who’s never been in a hospital? Show them to me.”
“The only other time I was in a hospital was when I was born.”
These days, Mr. Arpaio said he’s up 15 hours a day, meeting people and planning his strategy.
What keeps him going?
“It’s the Italian olive oil,” he says tongue in cheek. “Of course, I used to deliver olive oil in high school, working for my father for $3 a day.”
And this time around, Mr. Arpaio said he’s walking a whole new talk on the campaign trail.
That’s the key to staying politically viable and relevant.
“This time, I’m emphasizing what I will do more than this big brochure that concentrates on me being the sheriff. This time around, I’m going to do things differently,” he said, speaking from experience.
“The hook is I lived it. Everything I plan on doing [as mayor], I did as sheriff.”
