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¿Adiós, Arpaio? New Poll Has Beleaguered Maricopa County Sheriff Down 15 Points

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Could beleaguered Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio be headed for defeat this November? It’s sure been looking like it lately.

A new survey released this past week shows Arpaio trailing his Democratic opponent, Paul Penzone, by nearly 15 points. It’s the second poll within the past two weeks to have Arpaio — recently charged by federal prosecutors with criminal contempt of court — down by double-digits.

Donald Trump, fervently supported by Arpaio, could also be headed for defeat in Arizona this November, which could make him only the second Republican Presidential nominee to lose the solidly-red state since 1952.

In fact, thanks to the voter registration and organizing work of local Latino and immigrant rights groups on the ground, Trumpism — the mass deportation and border wall favored by the nominee and Arpaio — could be headed for defeat:

The poll, taken from Oct. 10-15, shows that substantial percentages of registered Maricopa County and Arizona voters oppose building a border wall and deporting all undocumented immigrants, two immigration stances Arpaio has championed.

The poll indicates 43.8 percent of Maricopa County registered voters believe a border wall “should definitely not” be built while 12.8 percent of registered voters believe the wall “should maybe not” be built. Statewide, 42 percent of registered voters oppose the border wall, while 13.5 percent “maybe” oppose the wall.

Maricopa County and Arizona registered voters gave similar responses toward the idea of deporting all undocumented immigrants – 30.8 percent of county voters strongly disagree with mass deportation, while 41.7 percent disagree, the poll says. Statewide, 29.2 percent of registered voters strongly disagree that the undocumented should be deported, while 39 percent disagree. The margin of error for those two questions is plus or minus 5.9 percentage points.

“200,000 Latinos have turned 18 since Arpaio’s last election. Arizona is at a tipping point,” Alejandra Gomez, leader and activist with the Bazta Arpaio Campaign, said earlier today.

“This political shift happened by organizing our community to reclaim our state.”