By Carrie Hendrix

For as long as I have been able to vote, the sheriff election was always an easy one for me.

As the daughter of an officer, I knew the last couple of sheriffs were qualified for the job. However, I really had to do my research for the upcoming election to make my choice.

I have read articles, followed online media for each candidate, watched videos and attended several forums to hear them all speak. I talked with family and friends and talked with the candidates themselves. I had people tell me some candidates were “good guys.” However, being a good guy or friend does not make you qualified for a job.

I have a lot of good friends, but I would not hire them based on that information. While doing my research, I have found that Travis Allen is first and foremost a politician. He consistently tap dances around the tough questions and fails to answer for his own statements. I have often watched him refer questions to other candidates because he isn’t aware of numbers and statistics, something a sheriff candidate should know. At one forum when asked about a comment he made in a school board meeting comparing the mask mandate to the Black Lives Matter movement he denied saying it. There is video proving otherwise.

In his own video, he talks of how he was supportive of Faith Academy Charter School. As a parent who has been actively involved in the charter school process, I can assure you there is no evidence of this. The removal of the playground equipment was just a small bit of the damage left to the school. What really sealed the deal was Mr. Allen’s latest video. It is nothing more than a direct attack on another candidate and his department at the Sheriff’s Office because he thought this candidate was behind Bill Allen’s letter to the editor. Also in this video, he doubted the validity of Bill Allen and even gave false statistics about the other candidate’s department. Travis Allen even posted a statement on his social media page that he will not lower himself to the level of attacking other candidates, obviously that is not true as the video was a direct attack on the other candidate.

Travis Allen, I assure you I am a real person, with a real opinion, and a real vote. I don’t know who Bill Allen is, but I do know he is correct in saying “misleading and misdirection seem to be a habit and method of operation for Allen.”

I urge everyone to do their own research to see who is qualified to be sheriff and who is only in it to boost their political agenda. We do not need a politician; we need a sheriff of Rowan County.

Carrie Hendrix lives in Rowan County.