Throughout his 24 year tenure Arpaio was criticized for using his office to engage in highly unprofessional activities for the sake of publicity or advancing issues that could help him get re-elected.

At the end, Arpaio’s legal troubles seem to have divided voters, some of whom were upset at how much lawsuits against him have cost taxpayers.

But it was likely Arpaio’s aggressive immigration stance that was his downfall. It alienated him from a large block of voters. The enforcement measures also spawned a long-running racial-profiling case that led to ever increasing legal costs passed on to taxpayers.

Months before the 2016 election, he was found to be in civil contempt of federal court for disobeying a judge’s order to stop enforcing state immigration laws. The day before early voting began, he was also hit with criminal contempt of court charges.

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