Group Seeking Sheriff Joe Recall Out of Money, Momentum

Opponents of Arizona’s Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio who are seeking to recall him have run out of money.

According to the Arizona Republic, organizers of the campaign to recall Arpaio announced on Wednesday they will rely solely on volunteers to collect signatures because they do not have the money to pay Arizonans to gather the 335,317 signatures needed for the effort.

Two weeks ago, the anti-Arpaio group announced it had collected 120,000 signatures. The deadline to get the rest of the signatures is May 30. 

An Arizona Democratic strategist said there was “recall fatigue,” and another indicated there was not much enthusiasm to recall Arpaio, even among Democrats. 

Arpaio’s campaign manager, Chad Willems, told the Arizona Republic that this could be another fundraising stunt. He remarked, “If they are forced to go to an all-volunteer effort I’ll have to reserve judgment on that as well.” He noted the anti-Arpaio forces could find “funding sources outside the legal channels” of the group.

Laurie Roberts, a political writer for the Arizona Republic, has a simple take: “no money = no recall.”

“I’ve never heard of a petition campaign of this magnitude that didn’t rely heavily on paid circulators,” she wrote.