DNC Chair Tom Perez released the following statement in response to convicted criminal Joe Arpaio’s announcement that he is running for U.S. Senate:

“It’s a sad and disturbing sign of moral decay in the modern Republican Party that a racist former sheriff and convicted criminal in Arizona and an accused child molester in Alabama are the best they have to offer. Joe Arpaio is one of our nation’s most notorious agents of racism and bigotry. He has spent his career tearing apart immigrant families and devastating Latino communities, and he has no place in the U.S. Senate.

“That’s why Arizona voters kicked him out of office in November, and that’s why I sued him when I led the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. Joe Arpaio’s prejudice didn’t deserve a pardon from President Trump, and it certainly doesn’t deserve a U.S. Senate seat. Democrats will fight tooth-and-nail to make sure Joe Arpaio never holds public office again.”