Legendary Arizona Senate President Russell Pearce, Sponsor of SB 1070, Dies at 75

Rachel Alexander

Longtime Arizona Legislator Russell Pearce of Mesa, who served as Senate President in 2011, passed away Thursday at age 75. The sponsor of Arizona’s nationally known SB 1070 curbing illegal immigration, which Governor Jan Brewer famously signed into law in 2010, died peacefully at a hospital surrounded by family and friends after becoming sick earlier in the week.

Former Maricopa County Treasurer Royce Flora, who Pearce worked for as deputy treasurer after leaving the legislature, told The Arizona Sun Times that Pearce was “one of the most decent, honest men I have ever known. I was incredibly blessed to have gotten to spend time working with him those years. He was one of the people who made Arizona great, he had a real love for this state and its people, and worked tirelessly to make it a better place. He truly cared about others and had the most warm, engaging personality. Arizona is a little lonelier without him.”

Flora said Pearce lived by the Thomas Paine quote, “He who dares not offend cannot be honest.” Another line he said Pearce was known for saying was “enough is enough.” Arizona Corporation Commissioner Jim O’Connor, a longtime friend of Pearce, told The Sun Times, “He is an American Patriot. Proud to have known him and worked with him through the John Birch Society.”

Pearce was loved on both sides of the aisle, famous for his friendship with Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) going back to when she was in the state legislature and considered the most liberal member — the Arizona Federation of Taxpayers awarded her the Vladimir I. Lenin Award. According to one source, Sinema moved her desk at the legislature to sit next to Pearce.

Before becoming a legislator, Pearce worked as a Maricopa County Deputy Sheriff. The East Valley Tribune ran an article in 2006 about an incident in 1976 in Guadalupe, where Pearce came to the aid of two undercover police officers working with the DEA to take down a notorious narco bandito named Mauro “Malacho” Morales. Members of the crime syndicate went after Pearce, and a bullet ripped off his finger, went through his chest, and lodged in his back. He fought off the attackers until help arrived. Morales and a dozen of his men eventually went to prison, and after a stint in the hospital, Pearce was back patrolling the streets.

He served on the force for 23 years, eventually becoming chief deputy to Sheriff Joe Arpaio. He assisted with setting up Arpaio’s well-known “Tent City” jail, housing inmates outside in tents that were air conditioned using evaporative coolers.

First elected to the Arizona Legislature in 2000, Pearce became nationally known for sponsoring SB 1070, the toughest bill in the nation cracking down on illegal immigration. It barred state or local officials or agencies from restricting enforcement of federal immigration laws, required immigrants older than 18 to possess a certificate of alien registration at all times, imposed penalties on those sheltering, hiring and transporting illegal immigrants, and allowed law enforcement to ask for proof of citizenship during traffic stops if there was reasonable suspicion a driver or passenger was not in the country legally. The Supreme Court gutted the first three provisions, but left in place the fourth.

Pearce also championed several other immigration laws, including denying bail to illegal immigrants charged with serious crimes. In 2004, he sponsored Protect Arizona Now, which required individuals to produce proof of citizenship before registered to vote or applied for public benefits in Arizona.

Special interests around the country targeted Pearce over SB 1070 in 2012, and funded by deep pockets they successfully got him removed from office in a recall election, the first state lawmaker recalled in Arizona’s history. Sinema tried to stop the recall, angering the left.

Pearce was a fifth-generation Arizonan who came from an LDS family. His family released this statement on social media: “Our ever-stalwart Russell K. Pearce passed away today after falling ill at home in Mesa earlier this week. He lived a life of service to God, family and country. He loved us, and we loved him dearly. He has left a positive impact on so many, fighting for decades to promote liberty and justice. We have been blessed to have him here these past 75 years. The family asks for privacy at this time as we remember our beloved Russell.”

Many of his friends in politics issued their own statements commemorating him on social media.

Pearce is survived by his wife, LuAnne, their five children, Dodi, Sean, Colten, Justin and Joshua, and multiple grandchildren.

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Rachel Alexander is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Rachel on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Russell Pearce” by Gage Skidmore CC2.0.

 

 

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