Voters, not a handpicked successor, should choose our next Sheriff

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, July 28, 2026

For context, I am a strong supporter of law enforcement. I am also the child of an officer killed in the line of duty in a felonious incident. For decades I have worked alongside surviving coworkers and families of fallen officers. I currently serve on the Westport City Council. I believe in good governance, responsible succession, and the electoral process. That is why what I heard at the Republican candidate forum at the Grays Harbor Fairgrounds last night deeply concerns me.

Our Sheriff, Darrin Wallace, was asked whether he intended to serve a full term and whether he had discussed plans to replace himself with his leadership team. His answer was candid: he does not intend to serve out the term. His main goal, he said, is to get the criminal justice center under contract.

Once that is done, he plans to mentor a chosen successor, Jeremy Holmes, to become the next sheriff, “just like Rick Scott did to me.”

I appreciate the honesty. The substance of the answer is another matter.

Nearly every speaker at that forum stressed election integrity. Mentoring future leaders is part of any good administrator’s job; I would expect nothing less. Announcing, in advance, an intent to step aside mid-term and effectively anoint a replacement crosses a line. It treats a constitutional office as something to be passed along inside a circle of insiders rather than earned at the ballot box.

The voters of Grays Harbor County elect the sheriff. That choice should rest on merit and public accountability, not on a private succession plan. If a candidate does not intend to serve the term they are asking voters to grant, they should not run. Anyone who wants to be our next sheriff, including Jeremy Holmes, should seek the office the same way every other candidate must: by making their case to the public and winning an election.

This is not about personalities or party. It is about whether we mean what we say when we talk about election integrity and self-government. A good-old-boys handoff is not succession planning. It is an end-run around the people we all swore to serve.

I support law enforcement. I support the men and women who wear the badge. I also support the principle that the public, not a departing incumbent, chooses who leads them. The sheriff’s office belongs to the people of Grays Harbor County. Let’s keep it that way.