When Paul Babeu first tried to run for Congress in 2012, his exploratory campaign was rocked by allegations by a 34-year-old man that the Arizona sheriff threatened to have him deported if their relationship was publicly revealed. But even though he was eventually cleared of criminal wrongdoing, Babeu's campaign did not make it out of the gate.
The spectacle surrounding the conservative Republican’s relationship overshadowed another issue that had risen for Babeu. A 2000 investigation by the Massachusetts Office of Child Care Services found what it deemed "abusive" disciplinary practices being used on students at a private school he once led for troubled youth had begun to circulate in Arizona . And while the story got some attention in the Arizona press at the time, he denied any personal wrongdoing, said he was never named in any lawsuit against the school and was easily re-elected sheriff that same year.