Joel Howard, a lieutenant at the Bennington County Sheriff’s Department, decided to drop his bid to run as an independent candidate after getting the most Republican write-in votes in the primary election.
James Gulley Jr., a Manchester police officer and law enforcement instructor, won the Democratic primary with 44% of the vote. His two opponents said they’d already filed the necessary paperwork to run as independent candidates in the general election in November.
Public records show Sheriff Chad Schmidt purchased property in Tennessee in 2020 and has dissolved his businesses in Vermont. Some local officials say they haven’t seen him in years.
Statewide, Bennington County has seen the second-highest number of new Covid-19 cases in the last two weeks.
The Attorney General’s Office, Vermont Criminal Justice Training Council, and Vermont State's Attorneys and Sheriffs Association all say they don’t have the authority to investigate.
