Sheriff Arpaio foes aiming for a recall

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio was reelected to a sixth term in November, but that’s not stopping the organizers of a recall effort.

The newly registered political committee Respect Arizona will lead an effort simply called Recall Arpaio. The group says the Sheriff has misspent money, mistreated prisoners, and focused too much on illegal immigration.

Recall Arpaio includes some of the people involved with the campaign to recall Arpaio ally and former State Senate President Russell Pearce, including Chad Snow and Randy Parraz of Citizens for a Better Arizona, and  Mesa resident Mary Lou Boettcher. Boettcher said she’ll be 80 in May – and pointed out that Arpaio himself is 80.

“Let’s see," Boettcher said. "Do I remember things as well as I used to? No, and neither does Joe. Do I get tired easy? Yes. Does Joe? Yes.”

In a statement, Arpaio’s 2012 campaign manager Chad Willems said recall organizers are “sore losers” and called on them to release a donor list.

The recall campaign has until May 30 to collect more than 300,000 signatures to trigger a November recall election.