November 4, 2020
Watch: Charmaine McGuffey Cinches Win as Sheriff in Ohio; First Woman, LGBTQ Person to Hold Office
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 1 MIN.
Charmaine McGuffey was fired by Jim Neil, the Sheriff of Hamilton County, Ohio, in 2016 for being a lesbian. Four years later, McGuffey defeated Neil with a crushing 70% of the vote in the 2020 primary - and she has now cruised to victory over Republican opponent Bruce Hoffbauer by a projected 52%, local newspaper the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.
"I feel very confident," McGuffey told the Enquirer. "I feel grateful for all of the work that all of the volunteers, all of the Democrats in Hamilton County have done to get, rally, all of us to this point, me included."
McGuffey went on to say that her win means "change that translates into action. It means that we can change the criminal justice system."
McGuffey added, "What [the people] voted for was ACTION in capital letters, and that's what we're going to deliver."
McGuffey "accused [Hoffbauer] of terrorizing communities of color and of having a history of using excessive force," the LGBTQ Victory Fund said in a press release about McGuffey's win. "He also shot and killed an unarmed Black man in 1990."
The Victory Fund noted that McGuffey's campaign "captured national headlines because of her outspoken criticism of homophobia, sexism and racism in the police force."
"Throughout her campaign, Charmaine built trust with voters by sharing her authentic story as a lesbian and a woman in a profession where there are too few of either," Annise Parker the head of the Victory Fund, said in the statement.
Watch the Cincinnati Enquirer video clip below.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
