Charmaine McGuffey worked for the Hamilton County, Ohio sheriff's office for 33 years.
She eventually became the first woman to reach the rank of major in the department's history.
But then Sheriff Jim Neil fired McGuffey, so she decided to run for his job as sheriff. McGuffey began her campaign in 2019.
Earlier this week, McGuffey defeated Neil in the Democratic primary. Incumbent Sheriff Neil drew just 30% of the vote compared to McGuffey's 70%.
You can see coverage of her win here.
Charmaine McGuffey gets 70% of vote to oust Jim Neil in Democratic sheriff primaryyoutu.be
McGuffey said:
"The endorsement with the Democratic Party certainly did carry a lot of weight."
"The other thing that carried a lot of weight was my message."
"I was a little surprised. I knew we would win by a margin. I didn't realize it would be that large."
McGuffey and Neil knew each other since college. But Neil's views became increasingly conservative, including appearing onstage with Donald Trump at a MAGA rally in 2016.
That appearance and his conservative slant cost him the backing of Democrats in his jurisdiction.
In addition to running for sheriff, McGuffey is suing the county and Neil for workplace discrimination and wrongful termination.
McGuffey said:
"The current sheriff and I got into a pretty serious disagreement about the practice of him not holding officers accountable for use of force and harassment of women, female officers, and female inmates."
"He fired me. So after about a year or so of contemplating, I decided I can do a better job than him."
She added:
"Quite frankly, my opponent has pretended to be a Democrat for many years now, when he's actually much more aligned with the Tea Party Republicans."
"He tells people what they want to hear and then doesn't follow through."
McGuffey faces Republican Bruce Hoffbauer in November. Hoffbauer released a statement saying McGuffey's priority is "in advancing a progressive political agenda."
McGuffey fired back saying:
"What that statement from my opponent says to me is that he has a 1950s attitude—the same attitude that I came up [against] as a deputy under different sheriffs. It's the mass-incarceration attitude; it's the 'Let's lock 'em up and walk away'."
If McGuffey wins in November, she intends to revamp the whole sheriff's office, starting with accountability and justice reform.
You can learn more about Charmaine McGuffey—and support her—on her campaign website here.
@jessicachastain/Instagram
