GREAT FALLS – Earlier this month, Cascade County Sheriff Bob Edwards publicly endorsed one of the candidates currently running to replace him in the November election.
Edwards threw his full support behind Republican candidate Bob Rosipal.
After Edwards lost in the Democrat primary against candidate Jesse Slaughter, he said he would stay neutral.
But in a Facebook post, Edwards says Rosipal has run a clean campaign and he has the vision to lead the office into the future.
Rosipal says he was surprised by the endorsement.
“He knew the ins and outs of the office. I think that he wants to see the office move forward in a positive direction. We run the prison, the jail, and the coroner’s office so it is not just a Sheriff’s office or law enforcement. There is a lot of different areas in the office. I think he wants to see it go into the right direction. With endorsing me, I really appreciate his support,” Rosipal said.
Slaughter says he is not surprised by Edwards’ endorsement of his opponent.
“I think this affirms the reluctance for the Cascade County Sheriff’s Office to embrace change. I went out and literally talked to thousands of people in this last ten months campaigning and all of them want to see a change. Everyone I talked to wants to see that so that is how I got my plans and ideas, is from talking to the community. I think we are right on target for where we need to be,” Slaughter said.
The election is on Tuesday, November 6th.
Reporting by Margaret DeMarco for MTN News
