Dan Saban, candidate for Maricopa County Sheriff, is circumspect about Buckeye Police Association's endorsement of his rival, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, over their former boss. Actually, he seems quite gracious.

"I'm good with that - they have a right to their opinion," he said. However, also evident is Saban’s bemusement at BPA's choice to back Arpaio over him, seeing as he was Buckeye's Chief of Police for three years.

"It's really unique to see that they would endorse Arpaio," said Saban. "They're supporting a man who has a terrible track record on labor over a man who helped them quite a bit behind the scenes."

The Buckeye Police Association is a new creation, and lacks the powers that full-fledged labor unions have, such as collective bargaining and binding arbitration. Saban claims he was key to getting it off the ground, and said BPA's decision not to endorse him may have had less to do with the traditional concerns of labor-versus-management and more to do with ruffled feathers.

"Over the last three years I tried to change Buckeye from old to new," said Saban, who retired from the Mesa Police Department as a commander before taking the Buckeye job. "I stepped on a lot of toes, agitated the status quo. A lot of the old-timers weren't happy with that."

The Phoenix Law Enforcement Agency also went with Arpaio. That decision, said Saban, is "politics at its very core."

"I talked to (PLEA President) Mark Spencer, and he indicated they'd endorsed Joe Arpaio to leverage (Phoenix Police Chief) Jack Harris. I really think it comes down to immigration."

Mark Spencer is relatively new to the PLEA presidency. Since he was elected last year, replacing longtime president Jake Jacobsen, PLEA's focus on anti-illegal immigration efforts has increased. Saban and others believe the main reason for the union's endorsement of Arpaio, as well as their decision to support Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, is centered around Chief Harris's reluctance to allow the kind of cooperation between Phoenix police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) the new leadership at PLEA wants.

Saban, who takes the line that officers should call in ICE when suspected illegal immigrants are detained, but only if it's documented and doesn't take precedence over regular police work, points to the case of Maricopa County Attorney candidate Gerald Richard to illustrate his theory about PLEA's priorities.

"Take Gerald Richard - this is a guy they worked with for 18 years."

Richard, who faces the governor's former general counsel, Tim Nelson, in the Democratic primary, also failed to earn PLEA's endorsement, despite serving as Director of the Administrative Support Division of the Phoenix Police Department. Richard's views are similarly at odds with Spencer's when it comes to immigration enforcement, which is largely why PLEA decided to back Andrew Thomas instead.

"Mr. Thomas' commitment to the rule of law, ALL laws, clearly demonstrates a desire to maintain the quality of life in both the City of Phoenix and in Maricopa County," read the PLEA endorsement. "Mr. Thomas' ability to partner with law enforcement is a catalyst for safer communities for citizens and a clear deterrent to those who disregard and disobey the law."

Richard told PolitickerAZ.com he was unaware of PLEA's decision and declined further comment.

While Saban said he would have liked to earn the endorsements of BPA and PLEA, he doesn't consider either organization’s support key to success.

"In the scheme of things this isn't really a setback to us," said Saban. "They really weren't in position to help me out financially."

Far more important for Saban are the endorsements of the Arizona Police Association and the Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police, both of which have thrown their weight behind him.

"The other organizations who endorsed me represent over 14,000 members," said Saban, as opposed to PLEA's 2,200. Saban said APA, and umbrella organization comprising over 100 law enforcement groups statewide, has been particularly helpful, mustering volunteers for him whenever he's needed them. “They’ve been very responsive,” he said, and pointed to the more than 8,000 signatures he was able to collect to qualify for the ballot – far exceeding the necessary 2,480.

At the end of the day, said Saban, "APA went for me, PLEA and the Buckeye Police went for Arpaio. These organizations have to fight for what they stand for. 

“That’s the nature of politics, man.”