FLORENCE, ARIZONA, April 7, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – Arizona political observers say Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, who made headlines for his tough stance on illegal immigration before becoming involved in a scandal with a homosexual partner, has changed his mind on abortion again.
“I’m still the pro-life candidate who will fight for new jobs and against increasing the national debt,” Babeu says in his first advertisement for his campaign in the state’s 4th U.S. Congressional district.
Babeu also has said he was “pro-life” as a councilman in Massachusetts, where he was affiliated with Pat Robertson’s 1988 presidential run.
But when he ran for the Republican nomination to the Massachusetts state senate in 1996, he told voters he’d had a change of heart.
A Boston Phoenix article from 2000 describes Babeu as “pro-choice and pro-gay-rights (though he concedes that he was pro-life at age 18).”
“I’ve gone from more conservative to more moderate, a Massachusetts Republican,” Babeu said.
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In February, Babeu’s ex-boyfriend, Jose, told CNN the sheriff had threatned to deport him to Mexico if he went forward with news of their affair. Babeu denied the charge but stepped down as the co-chair of Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign in Arizona.
After being outed, Babeu offered that, as a Republican, he favors same-sex “marriage” and open homosexual service in the military. “You can legislate love,” he said.
Babeu’s endorsement of Senator John McCain over primary challenge J.D. Hayworth in 2010 generated controversy after Babeu appeared on “The Political Cesspool,” a radio program critics say is racialist. Hayworth asked McCain to pull Babeu’s television ads.
Despite both media feeding frenzies, McCain supports Babeu, saying the sheriff is a friend.
The Republican primary is scheduled for August 28.