Arizona sheriff touts internal poll on potential House bid
Paul Babeu, an Arizona sheriff and immigration foe who survived a political scandal in 2011, would be a strong Republican contender for the House seat being vacated by Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, according to a survey from his pollster MBQF Consulting.
Of 687 Republican primary voters polled Tuesday in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District, 17 percent said they would back Babeu. Former state House Speaker Andy Tobin, the GOP nominee in the House race last year, pulled in 10 percent in the poll, while wealthy rancher and businessman Gary Kiehne, who finished a close second to Tobin, captured 7.5 percent.
With the primary more than a year away, about 65 percent of those surveyed said they are undecided.
{mosads}“If he were to run, Sheriff Paul Babeu would be a formidable candidate, both in the primary and general elections,” said MBQF principal Mike Noble, who heads Babeu’s PAC. “He has a proven ability to raise money from a donor base that extends far beyond Arizona’s borders, high name ID, regularly on national news and voters appreciate his ongoing efforts against the Mexican drug cartels, against human trafficking, against illegal immigration, and as a leading advocate for job creation and balanced budgets in Pinal County and across Arizona.”
Only Kiehne has said he would run again for the House in 2016, but Kirkpatrick’s announcement Tuesday that she would challenge GOP Sen. John McCain next year set off a flurry of activity among both Republicans and Democrats who have been eyeing her House seat.
Babeu considered running for Congress in the 2012 cycle but quickly dropped his bid after a Mexican immigrant, Jose Orozco, accused the sheriff of threatening to deport him if he revealed their romantic relationship. Orozco also released shirtless photos of the conservative sheriff.
Babeu acknowledged that he was gay but he was exonerated of any wrongdoing. He easily won a second term as sheriff in 2012.
Despite the sex scandal, Babeu continues to have high favorability ratings among Republicans, Noble said, citing recent polling numbers.
For now, many potential House candidates, including Babeu and Tobin, are taking a wait-and-see approach. The Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on a case challenging the constitutionality of independent redistricting commissions like the one that drew Arizona’s congressional map in 2011.
If the high court tosses out the current map, the GOP-controlled state Legislature would redraw the Grand Canyon State’s nine districts so that they favor Republicans.
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