Brown wins sheriff post

James E. Brown III does indeed feel good.

The Albemarle County police officer beat independent Paul Best, a Charlottesville police detective, to become the new sheriff in town.

“I’m feeling good and feeling tired,” said Brown, a Democrat who will take over as Charlottesville’s new sheriff in January. “I’ve been doing this since January. It’s been 11 months.”

Brown finished with 5,504 votes to Best’s 3,425. There were 22 write-in votes.

Both men suggested a wide variety of programs, including community outreach.

Brown said he’ll be sitting down to figure out a timeline for implementing his platform.

Brown has emphasized his commitment to diversity and said that one of his top priorities will be working to get the Sheriff’s Office accredited.

“It wasn’t one of the top concerns initially, but [it became important] with the budget cut that was just announced recently by the governor,” Brown said.

The procedural stamp of approval would allow it to be eligible for more and different sources of money, Brown said.

He’ll also be getting in touch with people who had offered to volunteer for the Sheriff’s Office back when Brown announced his candidacy last spring.

And he said he’s going to start working to get hybrids in the Sheriff’s Office’s fleet of vehicles.

Brown attributed his success to “being in touch with the community,” and said he had worked hard to get out voters.

Best is a detective employed by Charlottesville who serves with the Jefferson Area Drug Enforcement task force.

He said he was pleased with his campaign.

“I knew going into it it was an uphill battle,” he said.

Best and his supporters knocked on about 8,500 doors, he said.

He said he hopes his campaign will encourage more non-Democrats to run in the traditionally donkey-dominated city, so they can act as a check on authority.

But he also said he’s happy to be staying at JADE.

“Fortunately, the end result for me in this [was that], either way, I would end up with a great job,” Best said.

Brown will replace outgoing Sheriff Cornelia D. Johnson, who has held the post since being elected in 1998. Before that she was a city police officer.

The incumbent commonwealth’s attorney, commissioner of revenue and treasurer all cruised to easy victories with no opposition.

By a slim margin, Commissioner of Revenue Raymond Lee Richards posted the most convincing win. He had 7,749 votes, with 52 write-ins cast against him, for 99.33 percent of the vote.

Treasurer Jennifer J. Brown got 8,177 votes, with 63 write-ins cast.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Dave Chapman rounded out the group, netting 8,124 votes. There were 108 write-in votes.