MARICOPA COUNTY, Ariz. — Voters will be picking a new Maricopa County sheriff this November.
Interim Sheriff Russ Skinner, who was appointed to the job following Paul Penzone's resignation, failed to win the Democratic nomination in Tuesday night's primary.
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Tyler Kamp was declared by the Associated Press as the projected winner in the Democratic primary after earning 21,000 more votes than Skinner. Kamp and Skinner both changed their voter registration to Democrat after Penzone announced his decision not to seek re-election.
Kamp, a former Phoenix police officer, said he was recruited by the Democratic Party to run for sheriff.
Maricopa County has one of the largest sheriff's offices in the nation that is charged with running the county's jails and patrolling the county's unincorporated areas. The agency has often gotten mired in controversy, most notably when a federal judge determined MCSO was committing discriminatory practices in 2013 under then-Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
A monitor was appointed by the court to ensure MCSO made reforms, which has become a costly, lengthy process that's been ongoing for the last decade.
Democrat Paul Penzone vented about dealing with the court-ordered burdens inherited from his predecessor before Penzone stepped down as sheriff in January 2024.
During a debate earlier this year, Kamp said the ongoing court orders are a "complex issue" but MCSO needs to make changes to ensure compliance.
Republican Jerry Sheridan, a former MCSO chief deputy who is expected to run against Kamp in November's general election, has said "there was some mistakes made" by the previous sheriff in targeting Hispanic neighborhoods.
But those days of the sheriff directing deputies to target people are "long gone," Sheridan said during a recent debate.
Sheridan defeated Republicans Frank Milstead and Mike Crawford by more than 70,000 votes Tuesday night.
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