King concedes; Glen Hill re-elected Prince William County Sheriff

Glen Hill is headed back to the Prince William County Courthouse for a fifth consecutive term as sheriff.

The Republican on Wednesday pulled ahead of King in the polling count, who was winning as returns were coming on Tuesday night.

• I tried contacting Hill earlier today for comment as the race was still undecided, and again following a concession email sent by King’s campaign but have not heard back.
• I’ll update this post as soon as we hear something from the incumbent.

King used his concession to urge Hill to end the 287g program, which provides federal training to sheriff’s deputies so they may process illegal immigrants charged with crimes.

• Hill supports the program in place under the George W. Bush and Barack Obama presidencies, calling it another tool in a toolbox designed to keep the community safe.
• “I congratulate Sheriff Hill on a close but clean victory, and I ask him to end the county’s 287(g) partnership with ICE,” said King. 287(g) is the Jim Crow of the new millennium, and we cannot build public trust between law enforcement and this majority-minority community so long as it exists. As chairman of the Jail Board, the sheriff has both a vote and a voice in ending this voluntary program,” states King’s email.
• King also called on Hill to help reduce the number of people incarcerated for drug offenses.

King’s loss is also a loss for Democratic super donor George Soros who invested $50,000 into his campaign prior to the election.

• King was one of multiple “progressive” candidates in the region in which Soros invested.
• King is an Iraq war veteran and a current Fairfax County sheriff’s deputy.

During the campaign, Hill maintained King was not aware of the job of sheriff and accused him of being more interested in changing laws in Richmond than being interested in the day-to-day trappings of protecting the courthouse and serving warrant notice and evictions — the Prince William department’s main functions.

• During a debate hosted by the Prince William Committee of 100, King spent more time talking about finding new ways to provide additional funding for the county school division than he did discuss how his sheriff’s office would be run.

Hill was first elected sheriff in 2003, is an Army veteran, has five decades of law enforcement experience.

• He won a three-way race this election season not only beating King but also Rhonda Dickson, one of Hill’s former deputies who garnered 10% of the vote.