Arizona GOP wages bitter fight for open House seat

It’s not every day a candidate’s family member endorses one of his opponents.

That’s what happened this year to Sheriff Paul Babeu, who is running to be the Republican nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District. A wide variety of allegations have plagued Babeu over the years, but nothing seems to stick badly enough to derail his 2016 campaign.

Babeu spent 20 years in the Army National Guard, serving one tour in Iraq. He’s held his current role as Pinal County Sheriff since 2008. The National Sheriffs’ Association named him Sheriff of the Year in 2011.

But he made national headlines in 2012 when he resigned from a position with the Romney campaign because of a scandal involving an ex-boyfriend (and a singles ad Babeu may have posted on gay website Adam4Adam). Weeks later, he also gave up on a congressional bid in the 4th District. Now, he’s trying again, running against five others for the Republican nomination.

Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, a Democrat, currently represents the Arizona First but is not seeking reelection because she is challenging Sen. John McCain for his seat. If Babeu wins the nomination, his general election opponent will almost certainly be Tom O’Halleran, an Arizona transplant and former Republican.

The newly drawn 1st District was created with Kirkpatrick in mind. It has a higher percentage of Native Americans than any other House district (23 percent, according to the Cook Political Report) and is bigger than the state of Georgia, according to Roll Call. But it went to Romney in 2012 and McCain in 2008—suggesting Republicans have a real chance of winning it and gaining another House seat.

Babeu has quite a bit of baggage. His ex-boyfriend, in the United States on a visa from Mexico during their relationship, claimed Babeu threatened to deport him. This year, accusations arose of serious abuse at a Massachusetts boarding school while Babeu served as headmaster. His sister, Lucy Babeu, also claims an inappropriate relationship transpired there between her brother and a student. In a conversation with an Arizona Star reporter, the student did not deny it, although in an unofficial statement he disavowed any inappropriate sexual relationship.

Babeu has denied all accusations. At a February forum, one of his opponents confronted him about the abuse allegations.

“Nobody was arrested,” Babeu said in his defense. “Nobody was charged with anything.”

Babeu did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

In April 2012, while researching allegations Babeu and his staff used county resources to work on his congressional campaign, the Office of Special Counsel had to issue subpoenas for two office laptops when Babeu refused to turn them over. The ACLU has sued Babeu’s office for misuse of seized drug money, and the FBI may be investigating his office as well, according to local network affiliate ABC 15 Arizona. The station has a website dedicated to all the allegations against Babeu.

In the midst of the chaos, Wendy Rogers, one of Babeu’s primary opponents, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, grandmother, and member of Redemption Church, started seeing supportive comments on her campaign Facebook page from a woman named Lucy Babeu. The first time they connected by phone, they talked for two hours. Although she declined to elaborate, Rogers said Lucy Babeu detailed her brother’s “sordid, depraved” actions. Lucy Babeu and her sister Veronica Keating publicly support Rogers. Their brother has responded by painting Lucy as troubled and unstable.

But many voters—and donors—seem willing to forgive Babeu for any possible personal or professional indiscretions in light of his military and law enforcement credentials. Even with the flurry of February news reports about him, the campaign came in second among six candidates in fundraising for the second quarter of 2016—bested only by Rogers’ fundraising team.

Still, no one knows for sure which candidate currently has the most support in Arizona. When Rogers ran against Rep. Kyrsten Sinema two years ago, she earned endorsements from the Family Research Council and National Right to Life. Ken Bennett, former secretary of state, is also a viable contender and recently won the endorsement of the Arizona Republic editorial team. Rancher Gary Kiehne also is rumored to rival Babeu in internal polling numbers, but nothing has been officially released. Gov. Jan Brewer has endorsed Babeu and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has appeared with Rogers but has not endorsed anyone.

The Cook Political Report lists the Arizona First as a “toss-up” for the general election. Right now, the Aug. 30 primary seems like a toss-up too.