It’s good to be the incumbent Sheriff In North Carolina elections | Eastern NC Now

Given recent events in Beaufort County we thought some of our readers will take interest in an article in the Rino Times written by Scott Yost.  He writes:

As anyone who follows the local news at all knows, incumbent Guilford County Sheriff Danny Rogers was elected on Tuesday, Nov. 8 to serve another four years in that office.

However, many people might not realize just how much voters in the state like to keep the sheriff they know.

Post-election stats released from the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association show that Rogers is far from alone in that regard. Voters in over three-quarters of the state’s 100 counties kept the sheriff they had – and, of the counties that elected new sheriffs, many didn’t have the choice of keeping the same one because the current sheriff didn’t run again.

According to information sent out by the Association, 76 incumbent sheriffs were re-elected this week – including those sheriffs elected four years ago and any who were appointed mid-term prior to the 2022 General Election.

In other details provided by the Sheriff’s Association election recap, 17        sheriffs-to-be won a seat where the incumbent sheriff wasn’t running for reelection.

According to the information, in North Carolina, only five sheriff candidates defeated incumbents.  Three of those defeats came in the Primary Election in May, while two came in the 2022 General Election on November 8.

Also, in North Carolina, there was one unaffiliated sheriff candidate who won in this election.

Another note of interest is that 11 sheriffs were appointed mid-term and won this time around – that is, in their first election.

Eddie Caldwell, the Association’s executive vice president and general counsel sent out a statement of congratulations to the winners.

“The North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association congratulates all re-elected incumbent sheriffs and sheriffs-elect on their election success,” he stated.  “The Association looks forward to working with these sheriffs to enhance the Office of Sheriff and increase public safety for all North Carolina citizens.”

The Sheriff’s Association promotes legislative initiatives that aid Sheriff’s Departments in the state, and the Association also provides education and training for sheriffs in an attempt to help improve law enforcement across the state.