Sheriff Leading Missing Nancy Guthrie Probe Fires Back at Recall Push After Being Blasted as 'an Embarrassment'
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos is facing a recall effort.
March 18 2026, Published 4:27 p.m. ET
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos is firing back after the embattled lawman was branded an "embarrassment" and hit with a growing recall push, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Nanos, who has been leading his department in the search for Savannah Guthrie's abducted mom, Nancy, conceded that he will "honor" the decision of the voters of Tucson if they choose to oust him for mishandling the case.
Sheriff Chris Nanos Responds to Recall Efforts
Chris Nanos said he'll 'honor the will of the people' after the recall results.
"We're aware of the recall, and it’s the right of the people," Nanos told Tucson's 13 News on March 17. "We'll always honor the will of the people, and that’s what makes Democracy."
A recall effort was launched on March 12 by Republican congressional candidate Daniel Butierez.
"He has been an embarrassment to Tucson and to Pima County with this Nancy Guthrie case," Butierez fumed to the New York Post while noting the process is bipartisan.
"Everyone’s pretty disgusted, Democrats and Republicans," the congressional hopeful said about how the possibility of Nanos' ouster has united the warring political parties.
"Let's get the sheriff out of office and get someone in there that we can feel confident in," Butierez boasted in a Facebook video when announcing the effort.
'I Don't See Nanos Messing With Me'
Daniel Butierez launched the recall campaign against Chris Nanos.
"I decided I'd do it because I’m a congressional candidate, I’m already in the spotlight, and I don’t see Nanos messing with me," Butierez said about why he took up the mantle in the recall effort.
He claimed he has the support of rank-and-file PCSD members who were "afraid of repercussions from Sheriff Nanos" if they tried to launch the recall against their bumbling boss.
The political candidate added that the police in the county had a "unanimous vote of no confidence" towards Nanos on March 13.
Butierez now has 120 days to collect the roughly 120,000 signatures needed to trigger a recall election. He said that with nearly 500 signature collectors already onboard, they expect to well exceed that number.
Chris Nanos Won Re-Election as Pima County Sheriff by Less Than 500 Votes
The razor-thin margin in Chris Nanos' re-election showed half of Pima County didn't want him as their sheriff.
Nanos barely won re-election in 2024, after a voting recount put him only 481 votes ahead of his opponent, Heather Lappin.
The then-20-year PCSD employee claimed that Nanos, her boss at the time, vindictively placed her on administrative leave during their heated contest, which she said cost her votes.
"I firmly believe that Sheriff Nanos’s decision to place me on administrative leave influenced the election outcome and tarnished my reputation," Lappin said at the time.
She fumed: "In spite of using his official role to do this, Sheriff Nanos will now serve another term as Pima County Sheriff."
Lappin retired from PCSD the following year.
Chris Nanos Admitted to Missteps in Nancy Guthrie Investigation
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Chris Nanos admitted he made a series of mistakes early on in the Nancy Guthrie investigation.
Nanos has faced allegations that he bungled the Nancy Guthrie investigation from the beginning, following her February 1 "abduction" from her Tucson home.
There are still no leads and no persons of interest in the case of the missing 84-year-old, more than six weeks later.
From the very beginning, he was accused of allowing the crime scene to be contaminated by failing to establish a taped perimeter and clearing the scene too quickly. Several reporters walked right up to Nancy's front door two days after her abduction and took video of blood spatters on her porch.
Nanos later said he "probably would have" kept the scene more secure if he had been given a chance to do it all over again, and that he would have been quicker to bring in the FBI's assistance early in the case.
