This diary of mine is cross posted at my blog, where you'll find a great photo of Babeu, Gov Jan Brewer and an unidentified muscle hunk law enforcement official snagged from Brewer's Flickr account, along with a link to Babeu's FEC files.
That Paul Babeu is some piece of work. He's the GOP Arizona sheriff who's made a name for himself in recent years taking a hardline against undocumented immigrants, pushing a fence on the Mexican border, embracing Sen. John McCain's 2008 bid for the White House and serving as a local chair for the Mitt Romney campaign.
Oh, he's also gay and according to an expose in the Phoenix New Times, had a sexual and political relationship with an undocumented gay male who has been identified only by his first name, Jose. The paper alleges, with copies of text messages, that the gay sheriff threatened to have Jose deported if he exposed their relationship. Get more facts and photos related to the outing of Babeu here.
I was surprised that Babeu, the sheriff of Pinal County who lived in a town called Queen Creek (hehe) when he made the contributions as a member of the Chandler police force, earns enough to make donations to politicians according to his Federal Election Commission files.
Babeu gave $1,250 in 2008 to Arizona GOP candidate David Schweikert's failed bid for a U.S. House seat. During the campaign, the candidate made his anti gay marriage views clear: "Traditional marriage is the basis for a functional society." Schweikert ran again in 2010 and this time won the race. If there's anything out there showing a pro-gay bone in Schweikert's body, I couldn't locate it.
The gay sheriff also donated $250 in 2007 to Arizona state senator Tim Bee, who ran against Gabrielle Giffords and lost that Congressional race.What sort of anti gay politician is Bee? An answer from his Wikipedia entry:
In 2008, Bee sponsored a measure to constitutionally ban same-sex marriage in Arizona. Arizona voters voted against a similar measure in 2006 and the proposed initiative was the source of considerable controversy, resulting in a dramatic last minute clash between legislators at the close of the 2008 session. Ultimately, as the President of the Senate, Bee cast the decisive vote in favor of putting the amendment on the Arizona ballot in 2008. The amendment passed by a 56-44% margin.
The accountability tactic of outing was invented because of men like Babeu.