A grassroots write-in campaign is urging Lee County, Alabama voters to keep Sheriff Jay Jones in office on Tuesday, even though he is not the Republican Party's nominee and says he is not behind the effort. Jones, who has held the post for more than 27 years, lost the Republican primary in May to Cam Hunt, a former deputy he had fired, by just 307 votes. Hunt is the only candidate whose name appears on the general-election ballot, since no Democrat entered the race.
The write-in effort first surfaced in October, with organizers distributing signs urging residents to write in Jones rather than vote for Hunt, according to al.com. Jones has called the push a grassroots effort by community members seeking a choice, but has been explicit that he is not running it himself. He said he was not involved in or soliciting votes for the write-in campaign, and that he respected the outcome of the May primary, adding that the vote should reflect the will and choice of the people, according to CBS News.
Even so, the campaign has stirred friction within Alabama's Republican Party. Jones said the party threatened to remove him from its ranks over the write-in push, CBS News reported. A party bylaw states that a candidate who loses a Republican primary and then seeks the same office in the same election cycle may be barred from qualifying for public or party office, with the restriction running for six years, according to the Alabama Republican Party bylaws.
A Firing That Fueled a Feud
The rupture between Jones and Hunt traces back to October 2025, when Hunt, then a deputy sheriff, requested a private meeting with Jones to announce his primary challenge, per CBS News. Hunt said Jones terminated him roughly ten minutes after he announced his candidacy, and that his termination letter cited his intention to run against Jones. Jones has offered a different account, saying he gave Hunt several chances to resign and that keeping him on as a deputy would have been untenable once he declared his campaign.
The episode touches on a broader legal question about political loyalty inside sheriff's offices. CBS News notes that a federal appellate court found in 2021 that deputy sheriffs in Missouri may be fired for political reasons when political loyalty is necessary to their policymaking roles, and that the North Carolina Supreme Court upheld firing sheriff's deputies in 2016 for declining to donate to a sheriff's political campaign. Those rulings describe legal precedent elsewhere and are not presented as determining the outcome of Hunt's dispute with Jones.
GPS Tracking Allegations Add to the Tension
Hunt has also accused Jones's office of misusing a departmental GPS tracking system during the campaign, alleging someone created a geofence around his home to monitor deputies who visited, according to WTVM. Hunt said he filed a formal complaint with the Alabama Ethics Commission on June 4 seeking an investigation into the alleged misuse, and CBS News reports he plans to call for an independent investigation. Jones has responded that his office would not allow the system to be used for anything outside public-safety purposes, and has said he would cooperate fully with any inquiry. The Alabama Ethics Commission has said it could neither confirm nor deny the complaint's existence.
On the ground, the fight has turned personal for some residents. Jack Carter, a former sheriff's deputy, mentor to Jones and local furniture maker, said he learned of the write-in campaign by phone and described the situation as chaotic, according to CBS News. Jones supporters have maintained that voters have the right to write in any candidate they choose, while Hunt supporters have accused Jones's camp of being sore losers. Social media posts examined by CBS News showed campaign signs reported stolen from yards and online disputes escalating between the two camps.
Longtime Residents Split Over Experience Versus Change
Lee County, home to roughly 190,118 people, has rarely seen Jones face an opponent since he was first elected in 1998. Campaign organizer Debra Beil said she backs Jones because of his experience. Chad Lanier cited similar reasons, saying he supports Jones's experience and would prefer to avoid an increased federal-agent presence in the county.
Hunt, for his part, has said he respects voters' right to cast a write-in ballot but is focused on his commitments to Lee County as he prepares to take office in January. He has noted that he is the only sheriff candidate named on the November 3 ballot. A Facebook campaign page tied to the write-in effort lists a Proton encrypted email address, and a CBS News reporter who sent an inquiry to that address said it went unanswered.
Policy Differences Between the Two Men
Beyond the personal rift, Jones and Hunt differ sharply on policy. Jones said the sheriff's office budget stands at $25 million and that the department has grown from 80 people in 1999 to 230 people today, per CBS News. He supports continuing concealed-carry permits issued through his office even though Alabama law changed in 2023 so permits are no longer required in much of the state. Jones also said his office often cooperates with Immigration and Customs Enforcement but has no signed memorandum of understanding with the federal agency, and that the Lee County jail has transferred more than 450 individuals to ICE custody over the previous two years.
Hunt, by contrast, supports open-carry laws that do not require a permit and plans to sign a 287(g) agreement formalizing cooperation with federal immigration authorities, according to CBS News. He also plans to end Lee County's Flock contract and has said he supports the Second Amendment, stricter enforcement of immigration laws and additional law-enforcement tools. Those stances echo a wider pattern this cycle: Bolts reported that immigration policy featured prominently in a number of 2026 sheriff and prosecutor races nationwide, with some candidates campaigning explicitly against the Trump administration's deportation agenda, per Bolts.
A Rare Contest in a Field of Uncontested Races
Lee County's drama stands out against a backdrop of mostly sleepy sheriff elections. Bolts reported there are 2,400 sheriff and prosecutor contests nationally this year, and while many drew only a single candidate, a number offered voters genuine choices on criminal-legal policy; the outlet also noted that sheriff and prosecutor offices wield vast powers over policing and punishment. CBS News reports that about 1,400 sheriffs are up for election in 2026, out of 3,801 nationwide, with elected sheriffs facing votes in most jurisdictions across 20 states including Alabama, Colorado, Maryland, Utah and Wisconsin, according to the National Sheriffs' Association, as cited by spokesperson Yesim Karaman.
Mirya R. Holman, a public policy professor at the University of Houston and co-author of The Power of the Badge, told CBS News that longtime incumbents rarely lose primaries and that sheriff write-in campaigns are rarely successful. Holman added that she knows of no data tracking how often such campaigns have worked historically. Separate data cited by CBS News found that roughly 62 percent of sheriff elections were uncontested from 2022 to 2024, and that sheriffs nationally remain overwhelmingly white and male according to a 2020 report — context that underscores just how unusual Lee County's contest has become.
