Maricopa County, Arizona
Maricopa County (/ˌmærɪˈkoʊpə/) is a county in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census the population was 4,420,568,[1] or about 62% of the state's total, making it the fourth-most populous county in the United States and the most populous county in Arizona, and making Arizona one of the nation's most centralized states. The county seat is Phoenix,[2] the state capital and fifth-most populous city in the United States.
Not to be confused with Maricopa, Arizona.
Maricopa County is the central county of the Phoenix–Mesa–Chandler Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Office of Management and Budget renamed the metropolitan area in September 2018. Previously, it was the Phoenix–Mesa–Glendale metropolitan area, and in 2000, that was changed to Phoenix–Mesa–Scottsdale.
Maricopa County was named after the Maricopa people.[3] Five Indian reservations are located in the county.[4] The largest are the Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community (east of Scottsdale) and the Gila River Indian Community (south of Chandler).
Government, policing, and politics[edit]
Government[edit]
The governing body of Maricopa County is its board of supervisors. The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors consists of five members chosen by popular vote within their own districts. As of 2023 the board consists of four Republicans and one Democrat. Each member serves a four-year term, with no term limits.
Maricopa County sheriff[edit]
The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office provides court protection, administers the county jail, and patrols the unincorporated areas of the county plus incorporated towns by contract.
Politics[edit]
For much of the time after World War II, Maricopa County was one of the more conservative urban counties in the United States. While the city of Phoenix has been evenly split between the two major parties, most of the rest of the county was strongly Republican. Until 2020, every Republican presidential candidate since 1952 had carried Maricopa County. This includes the 1964 presidential run of native son Barry Goldwater, who would not have carried his own state had it not been for a 21,000-vote margin in Maricopa County. Until 2020, it was the largest county in the country to vote Republican. From 1968 to 2016, Democrats held the margin within single digits only three times–in 1992, 1996, and 2016. In 2020, Joe Biden became the first Democrat in 72 years to win the county, which flipped Arizona to the Democratic column for the first time since 1996 and only the second time since 1948.[26] Furthermore, Biden became the first presidential candidate to win more than one million votes in the county. This makes Maricopa County the third county in American history to cast more than one million votes for a presidential candidate. The county is also a statewide bellwether, voting for the statewide winning candidate in all elections except 1996.
Despite its consistent Republican allegiance since 1952, its fast-growing Hispanic population and influx of conservative retirees and Mormons, which were traditionally conservative voting blocs but were increasingly skeptical of President Donald Trump, signaled that it was a crucial bellwether in the 2020 election.[27]
