Janney, Sutton set for rematch in sheriff’s race

 

Democrat winner Chris Sutton in front of the tally board.

 

Incumbent Sheriff Barry A. Janney Sr. will square off against Chris Sutton in November’s election after each won his respective primary on Tuesday.

It will mark the second time that Sutton, a corporal in the sheriff’s office, will challenge his boss on a general election ballot. Sutton lost to Janney in 2006.

In Tuesday’s primary, Janney received 3,322 votes on the Republican ballot to defeat challengers Al Michael (932 votes) and Dan Slater (2,011 votes), who, like Sutton, also is a deputy.

“I’m very, very excited,” Janney said on Tuesday night, before adding, “I’m also a little upset over the low voter turnout. I hope more people turn out for the general election.”

Sutton, meanwhile, garnered 3,128 votes on the Democratic ballot to better fellow deputy, Skip DeWitt (1,855 votes) and William Gerczak (594 votes).

“Obviously, this is an honor. This is the first time I actually won the race because last time (2006 primary) I ran unopposed,” Sutton said. “This is a great feeling, and now I’m looking forward to running a good, clean campaign for the general election.”

Sutton also complimented all candidates who fell short.

“My hat goes off to all of them because I know how hard it is to campaign. They should hold their heads up,” Sutton said.

Janney, first elected in 2002, is seeking his third four-year term.

According to Janney, he has been successful in raising salaries of deputies, helping the office move to its new headquarters on Chesapeake Boulevard and overseeing the department as it started investigating traffic accidents on county roads to lessen the burden on Maryland State Police.

Meanwhile, in his campaign, Sutton maintained that crime has been increasing in the county and the sheriff’s office needs to step up anti-drug enforcement, opining that drugs are the root of most of the county’s crime.

He has advocated for a street-level crime unit and crime scene technician to collect evidence at serious crime scenes.

Michael, who served 25 years with the state police and 24 years with the Delaware Air National Guard, was forced to resign as Rising Sun’s police chief in 2008 after three years on the job.

Michael planned to crack down on illegal drugs and establish substations in the western and southern parts of the county.

Slater, a patrol deputy in the sheriff’s office, said he would focus on implementing stronger drug enforcement in the county and also update the office’s equipment.

During his campaign, DeWitt, who joined the sheriff’s office in 1991, said he would spend one day per week at the Cecil County Detention Center. He would also put desk sergeants on the road and assign clerical staff to handle their desk duties.

Gerczak, who spent 27 years as a Baltimore City police officer, said the county is starting to face the same sort of problems as the city.

During his campaign, Gerczak said he would use intelligence to locate problem areas and then use “rapid deployment” of deputies to clean up the areas.