ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – The St. Johns County sheriff race came to a close on Tuesday night with Rob Hardwick taking a landslide win against his challenger.
Hardwick won re-election to serve his second term with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office.
Jim Priester, a Republican who also has years of experience with the SJSO, challenged Hardwick for the seat.
“I would just like to thank everyone who supported me along the way in this endeavor. While we were not successful in what we set out to do, I still feel it’s incredibly important that we hold our elected officials accountable. If I was able to inspire even a single change in the way the sheriff’s office conducts their business, I consider that a success. Thank you to the people of St. Johns County for letting me serve you all for the last 27 years, and if you need me for any reason, I’m just a phone call away,” Priester said after losing the election.
Terri Schurman, who qualified for the general election as a write-in candidate, was not actively campaigning.
News4JAX spoke with both candidates before the primary face-off, and they shared very different perspectives on leading SJSO.
Hardwick said he believed he made some important progress in the office, including raising salaries for employees and reducing crime by 10%.
“One thing that we are proud of here is the recruiting retention, the increases in pay for our employees,” Hardwick said. “Just four years ago, I took our dispatchers, our 911 operators, our PSTs, were making $30,000 a year. Fast forward to now, they are over $50,000 a year. We are at full staff at our 911 center.”
Watch Hardwick’s full interview below:
Priester, a retired St. Johns County lieutenant, said Hardwick has not been a good leader.
“I think our current administration lacks fiscal responsibility. We’ve had an increase in our budget of $38 million, and we have given our deputies and our employees raises but not $38 million worth. We waste money and I think the excessive spending needs to be under control. And we would know that if we had transparency. Right now, we don’t have transparency. Our county lost its voice,” Priester said.
Watch Priester’s full interview below:
Hardwick had over $388,000 in monetary contributions for this race and Priester had over $84,000.