Sheriff candidate Charmaine McGuffey (via Twitter)
Out lesbian Charmaine McGuffey defeated incumbent Sheriff Jim Neil, who fired McGuffey in 2017 for being gay. She won the race in this week’s barely-reported Democratic Ohio primary with 68 percent of the vote, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
McGuffey will face Republican Bruce Hoffbauer in the November election to become sheriff of Hamilton County, which includes Cincinnati. Hoffbauer is a Cincinnati police lieutenant.
Although he is a Democrat, Neil appeared on stage at a Trump rally in 2016.
Neil and McGuffey are a year apart and went to the the same high school. They joined the sheriff’s department about the same time and Neil promoted McGuffy to major after he was elected sheriff. He was the first Democrat elected sheriff in that county in 35 years.
Neil claims he fired McGuffey for creating a hostile work environment. She claims she was fired because she charged Neil with use of force and harassment of women, female officers and inmates.
A lawsuit is still working its way through the courts.
After she was fired and with encouragement from progressive Democrats, McGuffey decided she could do a better job than Neil and filed to run.
Could a lesbian be elected sheriff in a conservative Ohio county? I’m thinking Lupe Valdez.
— David Taffet
