It was announced late Thursday that a group attempting to recall Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio had fallen short of its goal in collecting petition signatures.

Arpaio, a Fountain Hills resident, was pleased that the effort had failed and issued the following statement.

“It was just reported the group behind the recall effort against me will not be turning in the required amount of signatures; nor are they stating how many signatures they actually collected perhaps because they are embarrassed by the level of their failure,” Arpaio said.

“Secondly, organizers said they would not turn over the signatures in order to save the county taxpayers money, which we feel is a little disingenuous.

“After months of name calling, after the disparaging effigies and theatrics aimed at getting media attention to include even bringing chickens and protestors to my office repeatedly, this latest recall effort has failed.

“This effort failed because the good people of Maricopa County, whom I’m honored to serve, rejected the wrong-headed idea of overturning an election.

“For 21 years, I have had faith in the voters in Maricopa County. I’m grateful for all the help and support I received during this time.”

Arpaio is currently serving his sixth term in office.