Chris Nanos

Chris Nanos

Democratic Party

Pima County Sheriff

Tenure

2021 - Present

Term ends

2029

Years in position

4

Predecessor: Mark Napier (R)

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Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 5, 2024

Personal

Birthplace

El Paso, TX

Religion

Catholic

Profession

Law enforcement officer

Contact

Campaign website

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Chris Nanos (Democratic Party) is the Pima County Sheriff in Arizona. He assumed office on January 1, 2021. His current term ends on January 1, 2029.

Nanos (Democratic Party) ran for re-election for Pima County Sheriff in Arizona. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Nanos completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Chris Nanos was born in El Paso, Texas. Nanos attended the University of Texas, El Paso. His career experience includes working as a law enforcement officer. As of 2024, he was affiliated with the Boys and Girls Club of Tucson, the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission, and the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Commission.

Elections

2024

See also: Municipal elections in Pima County, Arizona (2024)

General election

General election for Pima County Sheriff

Incumbent Chris Nanos defeated Heather Lappin and Trista di Genova in the general election for Pima County Sheriff on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Chris Nanos (D)	49.9	243,891
	Submit photo	Heather Lappin (R)	49.8	243,410
		Trista di Genova (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	118
		Other/Write-in votes	0.3	1,500

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 488,919
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Pima County Sheriff

Incumbent Chris Nanos defeated Sanford Rosenthal in the Democratic primary for Pima County Sheriff on July 30, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Chris Nanos	59.7	61,927
	Submit photo	Sanford Rosenthal	39.8	41,300
		Other/Write-in votes	0.5	486

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 103,713
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Pima County Sheriff

Heather Lappin defeated Bill Phillips and Terry Frederick in the Republican primary for Pima County Sheriff on July 30, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Heather Lappin	44.4	34,986
		Bill Phillips	39.9	31,473
	Submit photo	Terry Frederick	15.0	11,786
		Other/Write-in votes	0.7	540

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 78,785
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Nanos in this election.

2020

See also: Municipal elections in Pima County, Arizona (2020)

General election

General election for Pima County Sheriff

Chris Nanos defeated incumbent Mark Napier in the general election for Pima County Sheriff on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Chris Nanos (D)	50.2	252,196
	Submit photo	Mark Napier (R)	49.5	248,765
		Other/Write-in votes	0.2	1,100

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 502,061
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Pima County Sheriff

Chris Nanos defeated Kevin Kubitskey and Trista Chang in the Democratic primary for Pima County Sheriff on August 4, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Chris Nanos	68.4	93,678
	Submit photo	Kevin Kubitskey	30.6	41,989
	Submit photo	Trista Chang (Write-in)	0.1	70
		Other/Write-in votes	0.9	1,277

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 137,014
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Pima County Sheriff

Incumbent Mark Napier advanced from the Republican primary for Pima County Sheriff on August 4, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Mark Napier	97.9	86,064
		Other/Write-in votes	2.1	1,838

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 87,902
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Chris Nanos completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Nanos' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a 48-year law enforcement officer; with 20+ years of executive level leadership, as a Captain, Chief Deputy and Sheriff of Pima County.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Implemented body worn cameras to ALL uniform personnel. Created: Pima Regional Critical Incident Team. The first team in the state that allows outside agencies to investigate any critical incidents, ie, officer involved shootings, in custody deaths, etc. This Team makes the agency step aside & allows another agency to handle the investigation. Created, Citizens Advisory Review Board & has full access to the PCSD & staff. They attend all internal affair matters, discipline panels, death review panels, officer involved shooting panels & accident review panels. They review departmental policy & SOP's, to include Rules & Regulations. They ride along w/& attend all training academies. Implemented a cultural training focusing on minorities.
• The county jail desperately needs maintenance & no longer functions as the safest model possible. The correctional science calls for a direct supervision model & to obtain such, I believe there are options available that would not be less costly then reported, a further study in existing models is needed. I continued to support jail reform & I believe if you suffer from mental health &/or substance abuse you should be in a medical facility not a jail. Over 1/2 of our jail population is on psychotropic meds & 2/3's suffer from substance abuse. If you've committed a violent act you belong in jail, many are there for minor non-violent crimes awaiting trial. Cost of ones freedom should not matter the size of you wallet. We need bail reform.
• Staffing, currently TPD is down some 400 officers, State Highway Patrol is down over 500 troopers. Although we have made great strides in improving our staffing numbers, we have a long way to go. Currently we are staffed at 96%, that is our current 'authorized" strength. Today, we are authorized by the Board of Supervisors 1,479 employees. Even at 100%, staffing is at the lowest level in 3 decades. Population and calls for service have increased, yet our staffing has decreased. The FBI/DOJ for decades has stated a county our size with its current population should have 2.4 deputies per thousand residents. We currently have 1.2 per thousand residents...less than half of where we should be. If we are to become more engaged with our community

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Community policing, we don't just respond to calls we are proactive in law enforcement in our community. It allows to develop a culture of building relationships with your community - focusing on minorities, such as Black and Latino residents and a strong influence on our youth. Community policing builds for a stronger and safer community.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Irrelevant to this race.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Honesty and Integrity, transparency, good decision making, and keeper of the public’s trust.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I currently hold the office of Pima County Sheriff. Qualities I possess: collaboration, honesty and integrity, compassion, understanding, trustworthy and fairness.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Executive level experience in Captain or higher ranks. All moral and statutory responsibilities.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I want to create a safer Pima County.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

Irrelevant to this race.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Police Officer in El Paso Texas for 8 years.

What is your favorite book? Why?

Irrelevant to this race.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Irrelevant to this race.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

Irrelevant to this race.

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

Irrelevant to this race.

Tell us your favorite joke.

Irrelevant to this race.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

(Ret.) U.S. Senator Dennis DeConcini; (Ret.) Sheriff of Pima County Clarence W. Dupnik; Former Sheriff Dick Boykin; Pima County Sheriff’s Association (PCSA); the Sheriff’s Labor Association of Pima County (SLAPC); and the Pima County Sheriff’s Commander’s Association (PCSCA); National Organization for Woman Arizona (NOW); Stonewall Democrats of Arizona.

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

When first taking office on January 1, 2021, I immediately appointed a Chief Financial Officer to work directly under my command. I have worked with the County Administrator and the Board of Supervisors to stay in the black each and every year. In fiscal year 20/21 I had a budget of $159M and came in at $155M. In fiscal year 21/22 I was budgeted $142M...a cut of $17M...and I came in at $140M. In fiscal year 22/23 I was budgeted $154M, but was cut mid-year by $5M and yet was able to come in at just $1.8M in the red. This past year, 23/24 I again was cut $4.8M and again was in the black by $67,000. All of our budget records are shared monthly with downtown County Finance, the County Administrator, and the Board of Supervisors and are subject to open record laws. I will continue to work closely with these individuals and continue to be a good steward with taxpayer dollars.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2020

Chris Nanos did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

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