Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb hopes his law enforcement acumen in a border state will make him stand out in a potentially crowded race for the GOP ticket in Arizona’s next U.S. Senate primary.
Lamb has been on the campaign trail as the first Republican Senate candidate in Arizona to declare candidacy for the 2024 election. He spoke with The Center Square on Friday to discuss the border and state of the race.
Although Pinal County is not geographically a border county, it’s close to the border and deals with many pursuits and apprehensions. Lamb said he would “call it out” with the Biden administration as a senator regarding the ongoing border crisis.
“I’ve consistently called out this administration for the human trafficking that’s happening and the slavery that’s happening every day. Yet we haven’t had that same reaction from our senators in this state. They have not vocally and outwardly opposed this administration and their inability to secure this border and do their job,” Lamb said, referring to Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, the Democrat-turned-Independent who currently holds the seat he’s running for, and Sen. Mark Kelly.
“Look, I called out issues even during the Trump administration, things that were not going on. I was posting about border issues then. But they were listening to us. We had a seat at the table, and that’s something we haven’t had in the last two years,” he continued.
On the topic of fentanyl trafficking and deaths, the Republican said, “you have to enforce the law” at the southern border for the issue to truly stop.
In his campaign announcement, Lamb mentioned how his late son, who was killed in a vehicle accident in December, dealt with drug addiction and spent time in jail because of fentanyl.
He said that he supports programs to help addicts, except the root of the problem is border security.
“But until you secure the border, it’s like mopping the bathroom floor without turning off the tub,” he said. “You’re gonna continue, you can mop all you want, the water is gonna continue to flow, and eventually, you’re gonna get overrun by it.”
On the political side, Lamb said that independents would vote for him in a general election because he’s had a good working relationship with both parties at the state level, despite disagreements.
