Incumbent Democrat Sheriff Jim Neil has lost his primary bid for reelection to challenger and one-time employee, former Justice Center Commander Charmaine McGuffey.
McGuffey has promised to reduce the population of the county’s jail and boost treatment and recovery efforts for inmates suffering from addiction and other issues.
“Together, we brought forward the critical message that the time for criminal justice reform in Hamilton County is now,” McGuffey wrote in a statement following the release of the results. “Tonight, I am gratified by the overwhelming response from Democratic voters that indicate they want the same criminal justice reform.”
McGuffey, who netted more than 50,000 votes in the primary to Neil’s roughly 22,000, got the Hamilton County Democratic Party’s endorsement in January — unusual for someone challenging an incumbent in a primary.
Neil had safely won reelection twice in Hamilton County, but he’s been in the crosshairs of the county party’s progressive wing since he appeared at a 2016 campaign rally for now-President Donald Trump.
Neil says he was simply there to provide security for the event and that he voted for Democratic Party presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016. Neil also says he’s won support from Hamilton County’s unions and has the best chance of keeping the seat blue.
“I am not — nor have I ever been — a politician, and I refuse to be beholden to political bosses,” Neil said in a statement following the party’s endorsement vote in January. “If you want the type of politics we’ve seen on Cincinnati City Council in the sheriff’s office, then vote for my opponent.”
But a number of Hamilton County Democratic Party members didn’t buy it. Cincinnati City Council Democrats Chris Seelbach and P.G. Sittenfeld supported McGuffey, the former commander of the Hamilton County Justice Center before Neil fired her in 2017.
Mayor John Cranley, meanwhile, supported Neil.
McGuffey says she wants to reform the way the Sheriff’s office operates to be more equitable and progressive.
“It’s not often that a challenger gets an endorsement like this,” McGuffey wrote in a Facebook post after the county Democratic Party’s endorsement vote. “But thanks to my experience and commitment to changing our justice system, and thanks to the incredible support from all of you, we are the endorsed candidate for Sheriff.”
Neil became the first Democrat elected sheriff in Hamilton County in nearly four decades in 2012. He proved popular enough to handily beat Republican Gary Lee in a bid for reelection, though he has also stoked frustration among some liberal fellow Democrats for his appearance at the Trump campaign rally, issues around immigrant detention at the Hamilton County jail and other flashpoints.
There have been some bumps in the road for McGuffey, including a brief suspension and a demotion that led to her departure from the department.
McGuffey had been with the county since 1983 and took her role as jail director in 2012. At that time, the jail was among the worst in the state, but under McGuffey’s leadership, it improved to the point where it complied with state standards. McGuffey was also lauded for her work helping inmates recover from addiction.
But some jail employees didn’t like McGuffey’s management style — or the fact that McGuffey wanted use-of-force incidents against inmates investigated more thoroughly, McGuffey claims.
In January 2017, an employee at the jail filed a complaint alleging a hostile work environment under McGuffey. The county’s internal affairs department launched an investigation into the complaints. That investigation, citing allegations from four employees of favoritism, bullying and misleading statements to investigators by McGuffey, led to a demotion to a civilian post for McGuffey in May that year.
McGuffey subsequently quit, saying the investigation was biased. She filed a lawsuit in May 2018 in Ohio Southern District Court against the sheriff’s office, Neil, the county and the county commission alleging that her demotion was due to homophobia and misogyny.
McGuffey will go on to a general election contest against Republican candidate Bruce Hoffbauer, a Green Township resident and Cincinnati Police lieutenant.
Ohio’s primary election was originally supposed to wrap up with in-person voting March 17, but a last-minute order by Gov. Mike DeWine closing polls amid concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an extension of absentee voting until April 28.
Ohio’s primary election was originally supposed to wrap up with in-person voting March 17, but a last-minute order by Gov. Mike DeWine and the Ohio Department of Health closing polls amid concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an extension of absentee voting until April 28.
This article appears in Apr 15 – May 5, 2020.
