Galveston County's new sheriff already in hot water after easy election
Galveston County's newly elected top law enforcement official may not be on the job very long. Self-identified conservative Republican Jimmy Fullen easily beat Democratic opponent Mark Salinas by more than 36,000 votes, according to Galveston Votes. The roughly 60-40 margin was in line with other races in the reliably red county.
However, Fullen's controversial past conduct could jeopardize his tenure before it has hardly begun. On Jan. 14, the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement will hold an eight-hour hearing with Fullen's peace officer license hanging in the balance. The commission's executive director recommended revoking Fullen's license in June. If it is, the Galveston County Commissioners Court—which itself moved further to the right in this week's elections—will appoint a new sheriff.
At issue are omissions and false statements Fullen, a longtime Galveston County constable, allegedly made on previous job applications and to the law-enforcement commission, the oversight body for the state's peace officers. A Houston Chronicle investigation last month cited a letter from the commission stating Fullen had twice been "untruthful in official documents about past incidents that cast him in a negative light, including being arrested twice, terminated from a job, disciplined at work and accused of discrimination." The Chronicle noted it had confirmed the information with Fullen's past employers "and other agencies."
Those past incidents, according to the Chronicle, include two assault arrests in the early 1980s that Fullen failed to disclose in his applications to the Texas City Police Department and Galveston County Precinct 2 Constable's Office, two of the eight law enforcement agencies in the region to employ Fullen.
Fullen, whose website says his priorities include "fight the liberal agenda" and "defend our God-given rights," also did not truthfully disclose the circumstances behind his termination from two of those agencies; and did not tell the commission about "facing accusations of racial discrimination as chief of police at the Galveston Independent School District, and being disciplined and receiving multiple written complaints throughout his career," Chronicle reporters Yilun Cheng and John Wayne Ferguson wrote.
Nevertheless, Fullen's campaign enjoyed the support of powerful backers including Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, prominent Houston attorney Tony Buzbee, and billionaire Galveston native Tilman Fertitta, who told the Chronicle he considered Fullen "one of the most ethical public servants we've ever had." Dozens of elected officials across Galveston County also endorsed Fullen.
In that support, Maj. Ray Nolen, a Galveston County sheriff's deputy bested by Fullen in the spring Republican primary , detected signs of what he called the "Galveston County cabal," telling the Chronicle, "This cabal – they stick together; they endorse each other; they support one another. And if you're going against the cabal, then God be with you."
Last summer, when Fullen's license hearing was postponed until two months after the elections, Dolph Tillotson, chairman of Galveston County Daily News parent company Southern Newspapers, likewise cried foul.
"This is what happens when a single political party and a few strong men in it have too much power: the interests of ordinary people come in second," he wrote in a Daily News op-ed . "Coming in first, by a mile, are the interests of the party."
Still, those dissenting voices were not nearly enough to dissuade a majority of the county's voters.
"Voters are attuned to issues involving the competency of a candidate involving their background, but in many cases, these kinds of ethical concerns aren't always a deterrent," said University of Houston political science professor Brandon Rottinghaus. "And I say that because I'm currently working on a book which asks the question whether scandals still matter in politics, and the short answer is that they matter a little, but the impact is waning."
