There’s something seriously wrong with Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

The self-proclaimed “America’s toughest sheriff” has had a long 16-year career here in Maricopa County and it’s time to put an end to it. He has quite simply gone off the deep end.

I’ve long suspected that Arpaio had gone loopy, but recent ads attacking his opponent in the upcoming election, Dan Saban, have proved it.

In the ad, a group called Arizonans for Public Safety — funded by the Arizona Republican Party — says that Saban misled a government agency about allegations of rape, was investigated for allegations exposing himself to a child and that as a deputy sheriff he masturbated on county time.

I hardly think a man with that sketchy a background could think he could get away with becoming sheriff of the country’s fourth largest county.
Then again, Sheriff Joe is running again.

While it is true Saban has been investigated for these allegations, surely, it does not mean they actually happened. Hence the word “investigated.”

After seeing the ad, Saban called a press conference to defend himself.

"Joe Arpaio is running a TV ad that twists the facts about my experiences as a victim of child abuse," Saban said, according to local news radio station KTAR. "Yes, I was abused as a child and that is a fact. But for Arpaio to call me a rapist, when he knows I was the victim of child abuse, is a cowardly lie."

State Republican Chairman Randy Pullen told KTAR on Oct. 2 the facts in the ad remain true, but the state Republican Party has decided to pull the ad due to all of the controversy.

During the interview, Pullen told KTAR that the allegations of “misleading” a government agency about allegations of rape stem from Saban denying that he had ever had sex with his stepmother, but then later admitting he was sexually abused by her.

Frankly, I’m not interested in voting for a party that can’t tell the difference between rape and sex. I’m not interested in voting for a party that paints a victim of molestation as a rapist.

As for the allegations of exposing himself to a child, Saban said they stem from a tasteless joke told by a friend at a party. After being investigated, which included a lie detector test, these allegations were shown to be untrue.

And masturbating as deputy sheriff on county time? It never happened, according to Saban.

At the time, Saban was a 20-year-old volunteer who was at home on a coffee break. He doesn’t deny that he masturbated. He did. I mean, he was 20 years old, after all. But a polygraph test proved the allegations of “as deputy sheriff on county time” untrue.

Sheriff Joe, a longtime Republican, says he has no connection and had no prior knowledge of the ad before it was released.

That’s really hard to swallow, Joe, since your GOP blood runs deep in your veins.

The claims that Saban misled the public are grotesque and blatantly untrue. The only group doing any misleading is the Arizona Republican Party.

If the party is willing to mislead the public about Saban, what else are they willing to lie to us about?

Saban is a decent (and, let me add, truthful) man who is extremely qualified to be sheriff. He has 32 years of law enforcement experience.

“Change” has been a word thrown around in the upcoming presidential election, but it’s local government that affects us most. Saban offers this county an opportunity for change.

Sheriff Joe’s power has gone to his head. Let’s give him a reality check.

OK, fine. I am partly voting for Saban based on his mustache. E-mail me reasons Sheriff Joe should stay in office at christina.caldwell@asu.edu.