For the second time in recent months, Pima County Sheriff Mark Napier has accused his opponent, former Sheriff Chris Nanos, of nefarious conduct. But the allegation made public just hours before Election Day polling places open may be based on Napier’s misunderstanding of state campaign finance law.
On Monday, Napier announced he asked the Pima County Elections Department to investigate a Facebook “hit page designed to attack me in support of my opponent.” The NoMoreNapier page mirrored a NoMoreNapier.com website, both of which include often unflattering anti-Napier items as well as pro-Nanos postings.
Napier believes retired Pima County Sheriff’s Department (PCSDC) Chief Richard Kastigar “may have” violated campaign laws for his actions as administrator of the NoMoreNapier Facebook page.
The premise of Napier’s allegation -which he disseminated on his own Facebook election page- is that the former chief was operating a political action committee (PAC) while working in concert with Nanos to spend money boosting postings on the Facebook page.
Collaboration between a candidate and a PAC can be a prohibited act, but Nanos told Arizona Daily Independent on Monday that he could have easily set Napier straight without need for an investigation. That’s because the Facebook page and the website are paid for by the Nanos For Sheriff committee, including the cost of the Facebook ads, according to Nanos.
The two longtime lawmen have frequently sparred during the campaign about the direction and history of the sheriff’s office. But they’ve also shown what appears to be a personal animosity for the other.
In August, Napier held a press conference during which he threatened to sue Nanos for alleged defamatory statements. There has been no further announcement as to those legal plans.
Napier, a Republican who worked most of his law enforcement career for Tucson Police Department, was elected in 2016 in a close race with Nanos, a Democrat, who was appointed as sheriff in July 2015 when Clarence Dupnik stepped down after 35 years.
Nanos retired after his loss to Napier, but says he filed his campaign papers after several current and former PCSD members paid for a billboard asking Nanos to run again.
