Scottsdale Lieutenant Mike Stauffer announced that he's switching party affiliation in his push to unseat Joe Arpaio as the sheriff of Maricopa County.
Stauffer, a life-long Republican, originally planned to face Arpaio in a GOP primary as a Republican. He's now running as an Independent.
See Stauffer's explanation of his decision here.
It's a smart move for a number of reasons, mostly because Stauffer will now leave the decision up to Maricopa County's entire electorate, as opposed to only Independents and the far-right-wing-nuts who would undoubtedly support Arpaio in a Republican primary.
However, America's self-proclaimed "toughest sheriff" is still a pretty popular guy here in the Valley (despite the millions (and millions) of dollars in taxpayer money that have been pissed away defending the MCSO from seemingly endless lawsuits, the humiliating publicity stunts, and the overall culture of corruption at the MCSO that he's allowed to develop for nearly 20 years).
Not to mention the $6 million he's got to fuel his (county-level) campaign.
The odds still seem stacked against Stauffer, but we want to know what you think: can Mike Stauffer be the one to finally convince Maricopa County voters that "it's time for a new sheriff?"
Cast your vote below.
