Pueblo Politics: Sheriff pulls plug on McCain endorsement, cites 1070

Rhonda Bodfield
July 20, 2010

Sheriff Tony Estrada has pulled his endorsement of U.S. Sen. John McCain, in part because of his opposition to the state’s controversial new immigration law.

The Santa Cruz County sheriff, who is now supporting Democratic challenger Randy Parraz, said he asked the McCain campaign to pull his name off the campaign ad that started running last week, touting his support from 11 county sheriffs. In the ad, Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu criticizes President Obama’s border policies and says McCain is the guy who can stand up to him.

McCain also pointed out his support from 11 sheriffs in the debate over the weekend with former Congressman J.D. Hayworth.

But Estrada said he verbally told the McCain campaign a month ago that he couldn’t support him anymore so he was surprised to see his name on the ad.

“We’re going in opposite directions on a lot of issues,â€