A longtime Dallas County sheriff said on Monday she will run to keep her position in the Democratic primaries next year.
Dallas County Sheriff Marian Brown announced on September 18 that she would be running for office again.
The Democrat incumbent is a longtime resident of the county, where she served as sheriff chief deputy and interim sheriff before being elected as sheriff for the first time in 2018.
Her career in law enforcement began with the Duncanville Police Department in 1988, according to her campaign website.
She held a number of supervisory positions during her service. These included patrol watch commander, criminal investigations commander, and assistant chief of police.
In the past year, Brown helped turn operations around at the county jail, which passed its first annual state inspection in three years.
She told The Dallas Morning News she intends to continue this mission despite a looming staffing shortage issue.
“I am proud of the work we have done, especially during the difficult days of COVID-19. We are daily focused on our jail operations, and we are doing all we can to make Dallas County safer,” said Brown. “I am honored to have strong support from those who know my work and commitment to serve.”
If elected a third time, Brown intends to continue using her decades of experience in service to the community.
“We are focused on making Dallas County safer and running an efficient, effective office. Letʼs keep the progress going,” she said on her campaign website.
This time around, Brown will go up against two opponents, including a former county sheriff she previously served under.
Former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez resigned from the position in 2017 to run for governor against Republican Greg Abbott, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
She now seeks to get her old job back for what would be her fifth term.
She noted in a statement, “There is still much work to do in Dallas County, and as I have told my supporters and campaign team, I am not done yet.”
A third challenger eyeing the position of Dallas County sheriff next year is Rodney Thomas.
Thomas is a newcomer to this race but not to law enforcement.
He accumulated two decades of experience working in both the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Alongside announcing his own candidacy for the position, Thomas described his five-step plan for improving the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office.
Brown, Valdez, and Thomas will face off in the primaries next March.