Controversy Erupts in Alabama Sheriff’s Race

A deputy sheriff in Alabama, frustrated with his Republican boss’s approach to immigration enforcement, is facing termination and alleged surveillance from political foes following his decision to run for sheriff.

Former deputy Cam Hunt, now the Republican nominee for Lee County sheriff, recounts his shocking dismissal. “The meeting started at 9 a.m. By 9:10, I was walking out of there, calling my wife to tell her he’d fired me,” he said.

After making immigration enforcement a focal point of his campaign, Hunt’s home was reportedly geofenced by someone within the Lee County Sheriff’s Office during the primaries. This was based on a state ethics complaint, which included screenshots of the department’s tracking system that were shared with Blaze News by Hunt.

The geofence, allegedly created using the department’s Verizon GPS system, seemingly tracked deputies and county vehicles that visited Hunt during his electoral efforts.

Following Hunt’s complaint on June 1, a month later, deputies received instructions to return their GPS units as the office terminated its contract with Verizon. Hunt expressed concern that the sensitive data collected by the system is routinely erased, and there’s no indication that the state plans to retain materials related to his complaint.

A Marine veteran, Hunt defeated long-serving Sheriff Jay Jones in the Republican primary on May 19, just months after Jones fired him for announcing his candidacy. A whistleblower reportedly discovered Hunt’s address within the geofence list shortly before the May vote. Now, Hunt is up against a write-in effort aimed at reelecting Jones, supported by progressive activists seeking to stop federal immigration enforcement in Lee County.

Hunt noted that the local Republican Party has not intervened in this campaign. He provided screenshots claiming to show geofences centered on his property, with vehicle groups linked to specific sheriff’s office lieutenants. However, these images do not reveal the purpose of those groups.

Hunt remarked on the geofencing setup, indicating that it was a means to micromanage rather than prioritize officer safety. Following the geofence discovery, Jones’s team canceled the Verizon contract. Hunt has since requested that the Ethics Commission preserve records related to the sheriff’s office’s GPS system before they vanish.

Jones has denied any wrongdoing, asserting that the system is used solely for public safety interests. Despite repeated requests, his office has not commented on the screenshots relating to the contract’s termination.

Ultimately, Hunt emerged victoriously in the Republican primary, a significant shift after nearly three decades of Jones’s tenure, but he now faces a unique challenge from a write-in campaign to maintain Jones’s position.

The write-in effort has gained traction among some who believe that Hunt’s approach to immigration could lead to Lee County becoming a “sanctuary county.” This sentiment was echoed in online discussions, where some expressed their disapproval of Hunt’s immigration stance and called for Jones’s reinstatement.

Interestingly, while Jones lost the sheriff’s election, he successfully secured a spot on the Alabama Republican Party’s State Executive Committee during the same election. Meanwhile, Hunt feels unsupported by his party, detailing his experience with local Republican events as evidence of a lack of backing.

As the dynamics of the race continue to unfold, leaders from the Lee County GOP assert that Jones has not engaged in the write-in campaign, although they have not disavowed the movement either. This situation raises questions about the implications for GOP unity in the region.