Johnson County elects first Black sheriff, ending 96-year Democratic drought | Opinion
No one can deny Prairie Village Police Chief Byron Roberson is an agent of change. On Tuesday, Johnson not only became the first Democrat elected as Johnson County Sheriff in nearly a century — he will also be the first African American to hold that office.
Considering Johnson County, the most affluent suburb in Kansas, was named after slaveholder and Southern sympathizer Thomas Johnson , what Roberson accomplished in this once Republican stronghold is truly remarkable.
According to unofficial results from the Johnson County Election Office , Roberson defeated Republican candidate and former undersheriff Doug Bedford by less than 4,000 votes (161,035 to 157,305).
Bedford served as undersheriff to soon-to-be-former Johnson County Sheriff Calvin Hayden, whom he defeated in August's primary election. Apparently voters wanted to chart a new course in the sheriff's office and did not ignore the fact Bedford and Hayden came up in the ranks together.
Making history is nothing new to Roberson. When he was appointed Prairie Village police chief in 2021, he became the first Black person in Johnson County to hold that position.
My colleagues and I on The Kansas City Star Editorial Board interviewed Roberson during the endorsement process. While The Star narrowly endorsed his opponent, Roberson shared with us his vision for the sheriff's office. He wanted more collaboration with other law enforcement agencies in Johnson County. He also made mental health and addressing the prevalence of fentanyl countywide major focuses of his campaign.
He chastised Hayden's leadership skills — "We do not have a good leader in the sheriff's office," Roberson said — and Bedford's ties to the current administration. Prior to retiring in 2021 as Hayden's second in command, Bedford spent 26 years at the agency.
Roberson took to task Bedford's decadeslong connection to Hayden, a notorious election denier whose frivolous investigation of voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election wasted an untold amount of taxpayer money.
Under Hayden, the sheriff's department ostracized itself from other law enforcement agencies in the county, according to Roberson.
"They are kind of off on an island," he said. "And so, I think I can do a better job at leadership. I think I can bring the sheriff's office with the rest of the local police chiefs and we can be a very cohesive collaborative."
