It all started with a phone call. A grassroots write-in campaign was launched weeks before Tuesday’s midterm elections in an effort to keep longtime Alabama Sheriff Jay Jones in power. Jones was ousted in May by about 300 votes in a hard-fought Republican primary in Lee County by a former sheriff’s deputy, Cameron Hunt.
“Someone started this write-in campaign,” said Lee County resident Jack Carter, recalling his recent phone conversation, in an interview with CBS News. “And I said, really?”
Carter said he spoke with others to try to write in their votes for Jones after the primary, but nothing ever came to fruition — until he received that phone call. He said he didn’t know who was behind the campaign and it was difficult to find out.
A Facebook page dedicated to the “writing campaign” lists a Proton email address, which is an encrypted account. A question about a CBS News reporter’s email address went unanswered.
Carter, a former sheriff’s deputy — who said Jones was a mentor — and now a local furniture maker, said he was directed to a woman with access to campaign signs that read: “On Election Day, Write to Sheriff Jay Jones.” Soon, the signs began appearing in yards, vans and local businesses.
He placed one in the back of his black Ram pickup truck and posted a photo online. Then things started to “blow up,” he says.
Hunt’s supporters accused Jones’ camp of being sore losers, while Jones’ supporters insisted that voters have every right to write in for the candidate of their choice. Social media posts captured signs being stolen from yards, accompanied by escalating accusations and online feuds.
“It didn’t happen the way it should happen,” Carter said, adding, “It’s chaotic.”
Sheriff Jones said he was “humiliated” by the grassroots campaign in an interview with CBS News, stating, “I was not involved and I did not solicit anyone to vote.” Jones wanted to clarify that he is not involved because he claims the Alabama Republican Party has threatened to remove him from the party due to the growing write-in campaign.
Sheriff’s Elections and Quality of Life Issues
While congressional and statewide races While midterm elections grab the headlines, down-ballot elections often play a much more direct role in shaping people’s daily lives. A sheriff sets local public safety priorities and generally oversees jail operations, budget allocation, crime response and bail management.
Nationally, sheriffs are predominantly white and male, according to a 2020 report released by a progressive group, Women’s Donor Action, examining sheriff demographics. There are 3,801 sheriffs in the country. In many states, the office is established by the state constitution, which often allows for broad authority – and for many counties, the sheriff might be the most visible and powerful position.
There are about 1,400 sheriffs running in 2026. In 20 states, including Colorado, Alabama, Maryland, Utah and Wisconsin, most elected sheriffs are running, according to Yesim Karaman, a spokesperson for the National Sheriffs’ Association, a national organization that supports training, education and advocacy.
“They maintain order, they ensure good community relations, they have leadership in their counties and they answer to the citizens that they serve and who they are elected by,” Karaman said.
Sheriffs can also help shape regional policies such as immigration enforcement and gun control. Several 2026 midterm contests feature debates over partnerships with federal immigration authorities, known as 287(g) agreements. In Wisconsin, voters in two counties are directly weighing their local sheriffs’ cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Jones and Hunt disagreed on various policy issues during their campaign, including immigration, guns, and Flock intelligence. Jones said his office has often cooperated with ICE, but has not signed a memorandum of understanding. He said there is misinformation about what this means for the county.
“We have cooperated with every request that we have received from ICE, local agencies here and federal agency offices in the state of Alabama, to actually, and this is on record, over the last two years, we have actually transferred over 450 people to ICE custody from the Lee County Jail,” he said.
However, Karaman cautioned that sheriffs’ immigration abilities often rely on state law.
“Whether a sheriff signs a 287(g) agreement and has the ability to cooperate broadly with ICE is a question of state law and local policy,” she said.
Jones also said he supports maintaining concealed carry permits, which are issued by the sheriff’s office because they help keep guns out of the hands of criminals. (Alabama law was changed in 2023 to no longer require a permit to carry a concealed handgun in much of the state.) He said he “fully supports the Second Amendment.”
Hunt said he plans to sign a 287(g) agreement, supports open carry laws stating a permit is not required and has publicly stated he plans to terminate the county’s Flock contract. He wrote in an email: “I strongly support the Second Amendment, believe immigration laws must be enforced, and recognize the importance of providing law enforcement with the tools necessary to protect our communities. »
Despite these problems, many sheriffs continue to participate uncontested in state elections. An analysis of 2024 data found that over a two-year period from 2022 to 2024, approximately 62% of sheriff elections were uncontested.
In Lee County, population 190,118, Jones has been in power for more than 27 years – and he has rarely had an opponent.
“Simple” grassroots effort grows after growing feud
That changed late last October when Hunt, then a deputy sheriff, requested a private meeting with Jones to announce his intention to challenge him in the Republican primary.
“In about ten minutes, I was terminated,” Hunt wrote in an email to CBS News, attaching a copy of his termination letter. “There was no legal requirement for Sheriff Jones to fire me at that time, but his termination letter specifically cited my intention to run against him as the reason for terminating me.”
Jones said he gave Hunt several chances to resign as deputy. Local media reported the dismissal and the ensuing feud.
“It just would have been an untenable situation” to keep him, Jones said. Several courts have upheld the firing of deputy sheriffs for political reasons. A federal appeals court ruled in 2021 — when Missouri deputies sued after being fired for political reasons — the position of deputy sheriff requires political loyalty. The sheriff can fire deputies because they hold decision-making positions where political loyalty is necessary for the effectiveness of their jobs, the court said. In 2016, the North Carolina Supreme Court upheld the firing of sheriff’s deputies who refused to donate to the sheriff’s political campaign.
A month after the May primary — where results showed Hunt defeated Jones by 9,301 votes to 8,994 — Hunt said he filed a formal complaint with the Alabama Ethics Commission. It alleges the sheriff used a departmental GPS tracking system to install a geofence around Hunt’s private residence to monitor any deputies visiting his home. The Alabama Ethics Commission said it could neither confirm nor deny the existence of the complaint.
Jones said if there were to be an investigation, he was prepared to “cooperate fully.” Hunt said he would also call for an independent investigation.
Jones touted his years of service, which he said provided stability to the county and allowed him to grow the $25 million sheriff’s office from 80 people in 1999 to 230 people today.
He said he wanted to make clear that he respected the May results, but that what was happening now was “a simple, fundamental effort by community members who want to have a choice in this effort.”
Still, the race in Lee County is rare, said Mirya R. Holman, a professor of public policy at the University of Houston and co-author of the book “The Power of the Badge: Sheriffs and Inequality in the United States.”
“It is very unusual for long-time office holders (including the sheriff) to lose primaries,” she wrote in an email. “Write-in campaigns are a big unknown: They very rarely succeed, regardless of office, including sheriffs.”
But she said she doesn’t know of any data-tracking writing campaigns. (In Oswego, New York, a candidate is running a write-in campaign for sheriff, but has never held that office. In Washington, a successful write-in campaign put a candidate on the sheriff’s ballot.)
Some voters supporting the write-in campaign for Jones pointed out the different policies between the two candidates. Debra Beil, a self-described “liberal” who has lived in conservative Lee County for 35 years, said she organized and supported Jones because of his level of experience.
She cited his educational programs on gun safety and his stance on gun permits among her main reasons for supporting him. Supporter Chad Lanier added that while Jones’ experience was his main consideration, he also preferred to avoid an increased presence of federal agents in the county.
Hunt said he wasn’t particularly worried about the write-in campaign and instead remained focused on the commitments he made to Lee County residents when he prepared to take office in January.
“I am the only candidate for sheriff whose name will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot, and I respect everyone’s right to participate in the democratic process, including their right to cast a write-in vote,” Hunt said.
In this area, both agree. Jones said this vote depends on the will of the people.
“After all, they are the ones we serve here,” he said. “And what matters is their choice.”
“The sheriff responds to people,” Jones said.
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