2008 Primary Runoff for County Sheriff

The Mrs. and I cast our votes today in the 2008 runoff election for the Republican Sheriff's candidate. It was the only issue on the ballot, but we couldn't afford not to cast our votes. It was hard to believe there would even be a runoff in this race. On the one hand, we have a candidate with 30 years of command law enforcement experience and the endorsement of all local law enforcement agencies. By all accounts, an upstanding citizen in every way . . .

On the other hand, we have a candidate who held the County Sheriff's job for way too long before losing during his primary election four years ago, after numerous news reports questioned his honesty and administrative abilities. He accepted gifts from a jail commissary contractor who somehow gained the bid, even though other bidders offered lower overall pricing. Hmmmm. Before leaving office, he punished deputies who didn't endorse his candidacy and proved time and again that he had come to believe he was entitled to hold the Sheriff's job forever.

If the symbol of the Republican party is an elephant, how can voters be so forgetful of a candidate's previous problems with integrity. If this ethically-challenged former Sheriff survives the runoff and faces the hugely incompetent Democratic incumbent (couldn't even pass her state licensing exam until the third or fourth try), then voters will have a rare opportunity to find the most worthy candidate among two of the most woefully inadequate options in recent memory.