When we called him up this afternoon, Pinal County Sheriff Ross Teeple was heading to Washington, D.C.
The new sheriff of “for the people” fame accepted a plus-one invitation from U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani, the Republican from Tucson, to President Donald Trump’s address to Congress tomorrow night.
Ciscomani, who represents Arizona’s Sixth Congressional District (think Casa Grande, Eloy), said inviting Teeple was “an honor” in a press release this afternoon. He cited the sheriff’s role in helping to keep Interstate 10 safe.
“The I-10, which runs through Pinal County, is a key corridor for trade, tourism and local traffic; but, also drug trafficking,” said the second-term lawmaker and former senior advisor to Gov. Doug Ducey. “The brave men and women who serve as police officers here play a key role in keeping communities safe and commerce running smoothly.”
The pair met while on the campaign trail last year, according to Teeple.
“He said he really liked how I ran my campaign, how ethical I was and he just really admired that,” the onetime Mark Lamb endorsee told InMaricopa.
Teeple called the invitation a “once in a lifetime” opportunity and said he hoped Maricopans who tune in to the event — which takes place at 6 p.m. Arizona time — can localize issues mentioned in the address.
“Even though I’ll be in Washington to address issues, the issues are directly important to Pinal County citizens,” he said in our interview. “Specifically, there are talks about how we can assist our federal partners in different programs, different possible strike teams, so I hope I can continue on with the communications.”
Teeple was referring to Gov. Katie Hobbs’s recent executive order to create a joint task force to expand border security.
Dubbed Operation Desert Guardian, the new task force will partner local law enforcement and federal departments to “disrupt transnational criminal organizations operations within Yuma, Pima, Santa Cruz and Cochise counties.” Pinal County is not specifically listed as part of the group.
“We’re still engaging in conversation with that to see exactly what that means,” Teeple said.
