Cecil County Sheriff 2014: Political Campaign Season Begins; Trolling for Candidates, Sutton Fatigue?

A CECIL TIMES SPECIAL REPORT The 2014 campaign for Cecil County Sheriff, always a hot political contest, is beginning already, with familiar names, switched party affiliations and some potential wildcards. The most prominent candidate so far—Chris Sutton, running in his third bid for Sheriff—faces some significant political challenges in trying to seal the deal with Cecil County voters this time around. The political jockeying to replace incumbent Sheriff Barry Janney, a Republican who said right after winning the 2010 election that this would be his last term in the job, is already beginning and for Sutton, who lost to Janney in the 2010 and 2006 elections, the campaign never really ended. But this time, Sutton has switched from the Democratic party to the Republican side. (Way back when, he was a Republican before turning to the Democrats when he ran against Janney the first time.) Sutton is certainly not alone in switching political affiliations, and county voter registration narrowly shifted to a Republican majority for the first time in 2012. (All county posts decided in partisan elections are currently filled by Republicans, except for the Register of Wills.) Sutton, a Corporal with the county Sheriff’s Department, faces potential backlash from […]