The Pima County Democratic Party has withdrawn its support for Kevin Kubitskey, one of two Democrats competing for the party’s nomination in the Aug. 4 primary.

Earlier this week, Kubitskey’s estranged daughter, Makyla Cleary, said on Facebook that she had been mentally, physically and sexually abused by him. Her post:

To all my friends and family on Facebook Kevin is my biological father and he is currently running for sheriff of Tucson Arizona. Kevin physically, sexually and mentally abused me from the age of 6 until I was 12 and finally had enough courage to tell someone about the horrendous things he was doing to me. An order of protection was placed on me and my mother and a court process started we went to court for a couple of years and when we were gathering people to testify on my behalf Kevin decided to give his rights up to me so that he would not face the backlash of the truth coming to the public. Kevin is a man who has severe anger issues and uses the badge as a shield of protection. I’m asking that everyone please take the time to go vote against him as it is not safe to have an abuser and predator as our sheriff.

Kubitskey, who is divorced from Cleary’s mother, denied the allegations on Facebook, saying he “would not do anything to my daughter to cause her harm” and that she had “mental health issues.” He acknowledged a ] blamed his primary opponent, sheriff Chris Nanos, of orchestrating the post and dragging his daughter into the campaign. Nanos was a longtime Sheriff’s Department officer who was appointed to the seat in 2015 but lost his bid to win it at the ballot box, losing to Republican Mark Napier. Napier is seeking reelection this year.

In a statement, the Pima County Democratic Party Executive Committee said it was withdrawing its support based on Kubitsky’s response.

“Our decision to withdraw support is based on the manner by which his campaign responded to those allegations,” the committee wrote in a prepared statement. “His response included the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive medical information about a family member and an accusation that a political opponent orchestrated the release of the allegations. Running as a Democrat is a privilege, and we hold all our candidates to the highest ethical standards.”

The statement continued: “We condemn any candidate who exploits this decision, or the allegations that gave rise to it, for political gain. We support work to ensure women’s physical, economic and personal safety.”

Kubitskey’s full Facebook post:

First and foremost, I will start by saying that I am heartbroken that my daughter is dragged into a situation and manipulated by my opponent that had knowledge of the troubled custodial relationship between me and my ex-wife. My daughter did not and does not deserve this to go on. I could go into great detail about these personal matters, however, at the sake of my daughter and her mental well-being, I will point out only what is of importance. There were accusations made on both sides of a custody battle with court paperwork going in both directions. All allegations were investigated and vetted through two police agencies and CPS, and found to be false and unsubstantiated. I have not and would not do anything to my daughter to cause her harm. This is provable through court records. The final order encompassed reunification on both sides. When this failed for other reasons, I made the hardest decision I have had to ever do. I chose to keep joint custody and suspend my visitation to prevent furthered alienation. The laws and orders of the court were followed. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think about my daughter.

That being said, I am proud of the successful and positive campaign that I am running in the Democratic Primary to become the youngest Pima County Sheriff in the last five decades. I have a progressive agenda that will reform the Department and bring true diversity and integrity to the community. I have served as a leader in the community for twenty years. As a United States Marine and a decorated law enforcement officer, I will never compromise on matters of honesty and public service.

In less than 24 hours since my opponent, Chris Nanos, was hit with a devastating report on corruption during his tenure as Pima County Sheriff, his proxy, Rick Kastigar, dragged my former family and specifically my daughter into a social media post. The challenges surrounding my daughter were well known in the department for years. For Nanos to bring it up now, just before the primary, is an example of how he led the department: through fear, intimidation and lies. I was warned previously that the Nanos campaign was planning something. My relationship with my ex-wife and her family was troubled for many reasons. When I chose to give space, maintaining joint custody, we continued with specific responsibilities assigned to both parties. To preempt further distractions from the election, let me disclose that, under her care, my former step-son and my daughter had difficult lives. My estranged daughter has mental health issues that my opponent Chris Nanos is now exploiting and trying to use to his political advantage. My campaign team knows this because of the evidence collected on him and his proxy, Rick Kastigar.

The desperation of Nanos is proof that my campaign is succeeding as his is failing. Rather than succeeding in debates and engaging with the public, Nanos is bringing this election into the gutter, with politics that exploit private family matters. I will remain focused on bringing a new day to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department. I will bring true reform. This gutter level behavior is more of the same that fell under the leadership of Chris Nanos. I hope that local media will use professional and investigatory discretion and judgement moving forward.

Family and personal issues belong to all of us in some form or another and speaking out sooner would have been irresponsible towards my daughter. I refrain from details to protect her and her well-being. If Chris Nanos had children, he would have understood how wrong his actions are exploiting family matters for political gain.

This article appears in Jul 16-22, 2020.

Getting hassled by The Man Mild-mannered reporter

11 replies on “Pima County Dem Party Withdraws Support from Candidate for Sheriff After His Daughter Accuses Him of Abuse”

  2. I have worked hard to be a good Sheriff for all people of Pima County. Over the past nearly four years progress has been made. There is more work to do on meaningful reform, hiring, compensation and engagement with the community. Being a Sheriff is not, or should not, be a partisan issue. Public safety is a community issue, a quality of life issue that is neither democrat nor republican, neither progressive nor conservative. It should be what is about good public policy. Heck, I even read the Weekly. Thanks to the above for the indication of confidence. Thank you, Sheriff Napier

  6. Nice going, Napier. No mention of the victim or empathy to this situation. Just a campaign speech. No class. So insensitive and out of touch. Like so many at PCSD. You don’t lead. You re-act. You knew what this man was and you did nothing. Now you use this to do exactly what you say you’re not doing. Playing politics. You are the reason people are protesting. You are the problem.
    Vote Nanos.

  8. So our sheriff Mark Napier is so enamored with himself he takes advantage of a family’s tragedy to spotlight himself. Are you kidding me Sheriff Napier? Not a peep from you about the courage the young lady mustered to take down her own dad. This story sheds light on the bravery of a sex crime’s victim. Why would you hijack that light for your own political gain. Shameful and disgraceful. After this display of narcissism, I will never vote for you.

  9. Sheriff Napier has got to go! Here he is pimping himself to get votes on the same page that highlights the downfall of an opponent. Not only is it immature, but also dishonorable. What people do not know about him is this: Sheriff Napier does nothing at all to support female victims of crimes. He also ignores crime cases that involve vulnerable adults and children. THAT IS A FACT. He is corrupt and manages the most negligent and incompetent police force in Arizona. None of his employees even like him. Go read comments made by those working under him on GlassDoor. Napier’s employees are extremely undertrained, underpaid and overworked. And because of this, morale is extremely low and employee turnover rate is exorbitantly high. Most of Napier’s deputies end up on the Brady list due to lying under oath when they mess up an investigation or a simple police task. There are also so many civil rights lawsuits and investigations coming Napier’s way due to their serial misconduct, unlawful arrests, mishandling of cases, failure to fulfill Brady requirements, chronic missteps, failure to investigate serious cases, and their extremely poor and lazy style of policing. It is also a fact that a drowning ship packed with so many incompetent sailors only reveals an extremely incompetent captain.

    Deputies and detectives working for the Pima Sheriff’s Department under Napier quickly close investigations that involve minorities, women, children and vulnerable adults and this is extremely dangerous because it only results in more crimes happening to them by their predators. Then as a result of this failure to investigate cases properly and take action quickly, criminals are left free to roam the streets to commit more crimes on good people. No police force should remain passive when those they are sworn to protect are getting hurt due to them not intervening and acting quickly. And because they ignore serious cases, problems end up growing so out of control only to end up destroying the victim completely and empowering only the criminal.

    As a writer, I was allowed to get a good look inside Pima’s Adult Detainment Center. It is filled with drug abusers and people of petty crimes — and that’s it. In fact, those I spoke to were charged with the silliest offenses, yet they take up space, government resources and waste valuable time that could be better spent of serious offenders. So where are the real criminals? On the streets or in positions of law or power. And what’s worse, none of the prisoners I spoke to even had their Miranda rights read to them. That’s another serious problem I discovered. Most employees working for the Sheriff’s department do not know the rights of the average citizen granted to them by the Constitution. And another thing I know for certain is, Protection Orders mean absolutely nothing in this county under Napier. In fact, in most domestic violence, harassment or criminal stalking cases, the police do not know who the real victim is from the offender. Many departments have difficulty establishing protocols on compiling Brady materials from files and records that may be spread throughout a department. That’s why Pima county has become very dangerous. Not only are deputies and detectives very lazy, unethical and incompetent, but there is no communication system in place to give officers quick access to past reports and court documents to make informed, objective decisions based on objective evidence. And as a result, innocent victims are treated as criminals.

    This county is not safe under Napier’s watch and I’ve been a victim of so many crimes that have gone ignored, and instead of helping people like me, he ignores us just because we have cancer, or are a minority, or female, or a Democrat, or a victim of domestic violence, or a mother, or elderly, or a child. And by doing so, he gives criminals the green light to keep committing crimes against us. Sheriff Napier does more harm to the public than protect the public! A passive sheriff is dangerous to all! And a sheriff who is too busy looking in the mirror and greasing his hair is just as greasy as the criminals on the street. He is arrogant, boastful, and more of an oily politician than an honorable protector of the public. Why would anybody want a sheriff who discriminates? What happened to Title IV of the Civil Rights Act? And why would anybody want a leader who does not apply justice fairly to everyone, only white males?

    There is no justice, no peace, no sympathy and no conscience under Napier. He has to go! The FBI needs to investigate Napier for serious civil rights violations (1st, 4th, 5th, 8th and 9th), systematic oversight issues, investigative misconduct under his reign, and serious Title VI violations. I’ve been seriously wronged in this county. The law works backwards here, but that’s going to get fixed real soon with a very large investigation and serious action from federal investigators.

    “Stand up for what is right even if you stand alone. — Suzy Kassem

    A CITIZEN OF PIMA COUNTY

  10. As a writer you have filled the column inches with conjecture but there simply are no facts. Whom do you write for, Personal Attack Daily? You should be thankful we are not Portland, Oregon.

  11. Kubitskey’s family and friends are creating fake social media accounts that support him. They are trolling and harassing those spreading the truth. They are even attacking the victim (his daughter) on her own posts. Demanding proof and answers as if they were entitled or deserved anything. It’s disgusting but exactly what I would expect from someone like him and his family. When I say family, I mean the one that raised him. The Rosaliks. A family of corrupt cops and mental illness. He lies about his upbringing and past. Big suprise. The story should include the family that enabled and protected this monster for decades.

Comments are closed.