Sheriff Mark Lamb –The Man in, and for, the Arena

Arizona county's top marshal throws hat in the ring to be state's next US Senator.

STORY BY PAUL PAWELA PHOTOS COURTESY OF SHERIFF MARK LAMB

Editor’s note: A portion of this story ran in the November 2020 issue. This is a follow-up piece to spotlight the recent announcement by Sheriff Mark Lamb that he is running for US Senate in Arizona.

Sheriff Mark Lamb is the real-life embodiment of Gary Cooper’s marshal character in the movie High Noon, the story of one brave man who must stand alone against several outlaws and do battle with them. Meanwhile, he is protecting a town whose people cowardly turn their backs on him when he asks for their help. Sounds exactly like what law enforcement officers are faced with each and every day in this country.

Sheriff Lamb is one of those true-grit men who lead from the front, embodying the true lifestyle of the Old West sheriffs of days gone by. His uniform consists of jeans, boots and – nothing says “good guy” more in America – a cowboy hat! Just thinking about that – a sheriff who has Old West standards and values – should get the blood pumping in every American reading this magazine.

Lamb started his career with the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, located 15 miles northeast of Phoenix. This was far from a daily desk job; quite the opposite. It is a tough and rough job that requires an equally tough and rough person for the job. For six years, Lamb volunteered for every dirty job that came along, while smiling all the way through the dangers and hardships.

This past April, Mark Lamb, the twice-elected sheriff of Pinal County, Arizona, outside Phoenix, announced he was running for the US Senate as a Republican, challenging Kyrsten Sinema, a Democrat turned Independent.

In 2012, Lamb joined the Pinal County, Arizona, Sheriff’s Office, just southeast of Phoenix. Then in 2017, with an afflatus inspiration and full support and blessings from his family, he ran for sheriff and won, becoming the 24th sheriff of Pinal County.

American Shooting Journal readers may have also caught Lamb on episodes of the action-packed TV series Live PD in recent years.

IN THE WEST, people, especially cowboys like Sheriff Lamb, live by a code. In my opinion, all Americans should adopt it.

• Live each day with courage.

• Take pride in your work.

• Always finish what you start.

• Do what has to be done.

• Be tough, but fair.

• If you make a promise, keep it.

• Ride for the brand.

• Talk less and say more.

• Remember that some things aren’t for sale.

• Know where to draw the line.

Ask Lamb’s staff how they feel about him, and they will tell you the man lives and probably will die by this code.

As mentioned before, Lamb leads from the front; he is not one to always sit behind a desk and be bogged down by the politics of the job. No, he can be found making routine traffic stops, showing up at crime scenes backing his deputies, and doing regular patrols throughout the week.

In setting a high bar for himself and his department, Lamb has seen his department’s morale jump and the overall work environment improve tremendously.

NOW, ONE OF our favorite law enforcement officers is throwing his cowboy hat in the ring to become a United States senator for the great state of Arizona.

What does it take for an individual to become a senator? They tend to be enterprising, adventurous, ambitious, assertive, energetic, confident, optimistic, dominant, persuasive and motivational. Some are considered conventional, meaning they are conscientious and conservative.

Check each box, and you have

Mark Lamb – the perfect candidate for US Senate. What are some of his other credentials?

Lamb has lived in three other countries – the Philippines, Panama and Argentina. This means that in foreign affairs, he is already a more solid candidate than most elected officials, who have never lived anywhere else than the United States. It also gives him a better appreciation of what the United States has to offer.

In addition, Lamb is supported and endorsed by a great number of heroes, including Matthew Thomas, who is Lamb’s right-hand man as his undersheriff. Thomas has been with the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office for almost three decades. Throughout his career, he has been a hardened law enforcement officer who has fought drug cartels on the border, drug trafficking, drug running and child exploitation.

Thomas has served in every position a sheriff’s deputy can serve in, and with distinction, including detention, patrol, traffic, SWAT and narcotics. He has also served as a detective, sergeant, SWAT team leader, lieutenant and SWAT commander, and is now the sheriff’s executive officer. There is no doubt that should Lamb win his Senate race, Thomas would become the next sheriff of Pinal County.

So why would I listen to someone like Thomas on why he supports Lamb for the US Senate? Because Thomas is a man of truth and honor; his yes means yes, and his no means no. Because Thomas has risked his life too many times to count for the people of Pinal County, and his current boss has been right by his side in many of those incidents. And because Thomas knows what it is like to be a leader in every aspect due to his knowledge, training and experience.

Thomas has nothing but respect for Sheriff Lamb; he looked me straight in my face and told me as such.

I know what men of honor are. I have worked with them, I have trained with them, and I know their mettle. Both Lamb and Thomas are men of mettle. To learn more about Thomas, I highly recommend his new book, Interceptors: The Untold Fight Against the Mexican Cartels.

SPEAKING

OF BOOKS,

in my vast collection, my favorites are always the personally autographed ones from authors whom I have also had the pleasure of knowing and sharing friendships with. These include books from members of Delta Force, SEAL Team 6, Special Forces, Rangers and legends in the police community, and now sitting proudly on the shelf with a personal autograph from the man himself is Lamb’s book American Sheriff: Traditional Values in a Modern World.

This book is so special to me; other than the Bible, I can think of no other book that is such an excellent blueprint for the pathway to success in life. As such, I plan to pass it on to my grandsons when the time is right. I love this book for many reasons. One is that it highlights Lamb’s incredible successes, but he also owns his failures in it. As a wise man once said, “Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.”

Some highlights from the book include the fact that Lamb is a direct descendant of eight occupants of the Mayflower, who landed on Plymouth Rock in 1620. That fact in itself is worthy of Lamb being a senator, as he honors his heritage and respects the sacrifices his ancestors made to help this country and make it the bastion of freedom it is. He talks in his book about how his upbringing instilled in him a profound love and appreciation for America.

His list of accomplishments is breathtaking, including valedictorian of his police academy training class, rookie of the year as an officer, officer of the year, and detective of the year, which led to his 2016 win with nearly 58 percent voting for him to become sheriff of Pinal County – which jumped to over 97 percent when he was reelected in 2020. As mentioned in my original article, Pinal County is still the Wild West, and Sheriff Lamb and his deputies are fighting border control issues – drug cartels, human trafficking, etc. – every day.

Sheriff Lamb is a family man who shares five children with his wife Janel of over 25 years. Their relationship is a testament to their dedicated faith in Jesus Christ. They stood strong when they were recently tested by the loss of their son, his fiancée and their daughter. Yet, true grit and the love of family are their commitment, which speaks volumes.

This author can think of no greater words to describe Sheriff Mark Lamb as he runs for US Senate than those of another great politician, President Theodore Roosevelt.

“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.” a PREMIUM QUALITY a FULLY FUNCTIONAL a LIFETIME WARRANTY a CUSTOM BUILDS a BUILT FOR EXTREME USE a MADE IN AMERICA a BUILT WITH AMERICAN MATERIALS AND PARTS a MADE BY AMERICANS AND VETERANS

Mark Lamb is the man in the arena, and the words he lives by are, “Fear not, do right!” Sound wisdom from an upcoming senator.

For more information about Sheriff Lamb running for Senate, visit sherifflambforsenate.com.

Tap Rack Holsters is a leading provider of premium American-made gun holsters and knife sheaths. Our products are the result of 40 plus years of combined experience in the military and law enforcement field using American made materials. Every Tap Rack holster and sheath is handcrafted using extreme care, precision and built to last because we’re dedicated to providing premium quality products our customers can rely on.