A Maricopa County Superior Court judge has declined to stop Sheriff Joe Arpaio from pounding Tom Horne and Rick Romley in a televised attack ad.
Judge John Buttrick stated in his ruling on the matter this morning that state election law provides remedies for complaints like Horne's, and an injunction against the ads isn't warranted.
State election officials have already stated publicly that they are checking into the legality of the ads.
Neither the content of the ad nor the way Arpaio's spending his campaign cash was addressed by Buttrick's answer to Horne's request for a restraining order.
From an ethical standpoint, though, it's clear Arpaio's up to his old tricks. The ad barely mentions Arpaio's 2012 bid for sheriff -- and gosh, isn't it a bit early to start running for that election?
But shouldn't the sheriff run whatever ads he wants, and pay for them however he chooses?
It's not like state Attorney General Terry Goddard did anything about the infamous SCA scandal -- why should this turn out any differently?
