Republican El Paso County Sheriff’s Office candidates talk key issues ahead of primary
In El Paso County, the Republican primary for sheriff is one of the headliners this year.
Incumbent Sheriff Bill Elder aims to keep the position, while Mike Angley looks to unseat him.
“I have three and a half years of a conservative record in this office,” Elder said.
“I’m the right guy to come along at the right time,” Angley said.
Angly boasts 25 years of experience in military and federal law enforcement. He said the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office is full of corruption and he can turn it around.
“It will never heal itself,” Angley said. “You have to finally hire an outsider to come in and kind of break up that culture if you will.”
Elder has spent a bulk of his law enforcement career at the agency. He said his record proves he can manage the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office well. Elder said the issues he inherited could not be fixed in three and a half years.
“We have taken some substantial steps to correct the inequities that were left in place when I took office,” Elder said.
As for correcting the illegal marijuana growing operations issue, Elder said he has no plans of letting up.
“We’re going to continue the fight against black market marijuana grows,” Elder said.
Angley said the issue needs to be cut off at the criminal organization level.
“We’ve got to make this a place that the cartels do not want to set up shop and they’ll move on. The ones that don’t move on, well, we’ll put them in jail,” Angley said.
Angley added should he get elected he’s looking to restore public trust and build up manpower at the jail and on the streets.
“Having additional people on patrol serves as a deterrent to those who might want to do crime,” Angley said.
Both Elder and Angley said they’ll bring a tough stance on immigration. Incumbent Bill Elder also emphasizing his strong views on gun owners rights.
“We’re going to continue the strong fight against taking away our second amendment rights with laws and legislation like the red flag bill,” Elder said.
Tuesday’s primary will decide whether Elder or Angley moves onto the November election. The winner will vie for the position against Democrat Grace Sweeny-Mauer.
