Local

Ledford launches petition drive in bid to be sheriff

By JACQUELINE CASEY, LTN Staff Writer

Jan. 11, 2002 - His intent is to give voters a choice — and to satisfy a question which has troubled him since 1990.

That’s what retired Lincolnton Police Capt. Tommy Ledford says is behind an unusual bid for the job of Lincoln County Sheriff.

Thursday afternoon Ledford stopped in at the Lincoln County Election Office to pick up a petition that will place his name on November’s ballot without having to participate in a primary election — provided he can come up with the 1,600 signatures required by state election laws.

Within minutes of leaving the election office, Ledford only needed the signatures of 1,595 more Lincoln voters.

“I want them to have a choice in November,” Ledford said. “If I can get these signatures, then that will save me from having to go through a primary, plus a lot of expense that I don’t have.”

Ledford, 59, hopes to unseat incumbent Republican Sheriff Barbara Pickens as an unaffiliated candidate on Nov. 5 — a switch from 1990 when he made a bid for the job as a Democrat.

That effort was abandoned within days of filing when Ledford’s job on the city force was jeopardized. A municipal personnel policy in effect at the time strongly discouraged employees from becoming political candidates because of possible conflict-of-interest problems. 

And therein lies the second  reason behind Ledford’s bid.

“I just feel like there was a void there because I didn’t have an opportunity to run as a sheriff. I had filed and had my signs made and then I was told it was against (city) policy.”

Now, Ledford said, circumstances have changed and he is free to run.

“I want to see if I could win or lose; I know that I can do the job.”

Ledford said his decision to try to get on the ballot by petition as an unaffiliated candidate is based on a desire to avoid “a dirty or negative primary.”

Running unaffiliated also allows Ledford, a registered Democrat, to avoid paying a filing fee, according to Lincoln County Director of Elections Judy Caudill.

“Unaffiliate is a status,” said Caudill, who cannot recall any other candidate running for office in Lincoln County by petition unaffiliated during her 32 years with Lincoln’s elections office. “Any person may file as an unaffiliate, regardless of party affiliation.”

In 1999, Ledford, then in charge of crime prevention and community policing, retired from the Lincolnton Police Department. He had been a member since 1982.

A Cleveland County native, Ledford lives in west Lincoln’s North Brook community. He served in the U.S. Army, earned accounting and business degrees from Cleveland Community College, attended Gardner-Webb University and was awarded a masters degree in counseling from Lincolnton’s New Vision University. He also holds certificates in Advanced Law Enforcement and as a Criminal Investigator. For the past three years Ledford has worked as a state-licensed private investigator.

Experience, a desire to “take the politics out of law enforcement” and a strong anti-drug focus are what Ledford says he offers the sheriff’s department.

“I’d bring a lot of crime-prevention techniques that I used with the police department, fighting crime, trying to reduce crime.”

If elected, Ledford said he will be a uniformed sheriff who  spends time riding with patrol officers and will work to establish around-the-clock staffed offices in the eastern and western ends of the county.

He is not a critic of how the sheriff’s department now operates, Ledford said, but does want the chance to “do things my way.”

If he is successful in getting the remaining signatures by the June 28 noon deadline and earning a place on the ballot, Ledford can count on a strong opponent: Barbara Pickens said Thursday she will run for a third four-year term.

The sheriff plans to file as a candidate Feb. 18, the first day of regular party filing.

A 30-year veteran of the department, Pickens won Lincoln’s top law enforcement job in 1994. In 1998, Pickens captured 61 percent of the vote to easily defeat Democrat challenger Bill Brooks.

Pickens calls Ledford “a good friend and a good officer” and said she welcomes his candidacy.

“There’s always competition and I think competition is healthy.”

As for Ledford, he plans to “hit the road the old-timey way” going door-to-door to speak to voters and accepting opportunities to address civic groups.

And he plans to erect those “Elect Tommy Ledford” signs he’s been saving for 12 years.

“I know I’m a long shot candidate,” Ledford said, “I realize that.”

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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