PHOENIX

Reports show Joe Arpaio spent $12.6 million in failed re-election bid for sheriff

Associated Press
Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio  spent $12.6 million on his failed re-election bid.

PHOENIX - The final campaign finance reports from the Maricopa County sheriff’s election show that Republican Joe Arpaio spent $12.6 million in his unsuccessful bid for a seventh term in office.

Democrat Paul Penzone, who beat Arpaio by nearly 13 percentage points in November, spent $1 million.

A political group funded primarily by liberal hedge-fund tycoon George Soros also spent $3.2 million in opposition to Arpaio.

The final reports were publicly released late last week and early this week.

Another Soros-funded group spent $1.8 million opposing the re-election campaign of Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, a Republican.

Montgomery, who defeated Democratic challenger Diego Rodriguez by 5 percentage points, spent $357,000.

Rodriguez’s final campaign report hasn’t yet been made public.

His previous report showed that he had spent $17,000.