Carroll County Sheriff Ken Pingrey is making a bid for supervisor in the only local contested race on the June 2 GOP primary ballot. Pingrey is challenging incumbent Supervisor Stephanie Hausman for the District 4 seat on the board of supervisors. Pingrey has served in law enforcement for his entire career, the last decade as Carroll County’s sheriff. Pingrey says his entire adult life has been dedicated to public service, and a switch from sheriff to supervisor seemed like a reasonable transition.
Pingrey says the sheriff’s office and county government in general have undergone significant change over the last 10 years, and he’s had to lead through those changes.
Pingrey has spent his entire life in Carroll County and has built connections across every corner, which he says will be an asset on the board if elected.
Pingrey believes Carroll County’s greatest asset is its people, who are, by and large, honest and hardworking, and that the board of supervisors just needs to keep a good thing going. He says the county’s biggest challenge is population. Surrounding counties have seen declines over the past few decades. While Carroll County has held relatively stable, he’d like to see at least some growth.
Pingrey says leading can be challenging, and he points to the tenure of his staff at the Sheriff’s Office as a prime example of the kind of leadership style he will bring as a supervisor.
If he wins the primary, Pingrey will have to step down from his sheriff’s position to run in November. No candidate from the Democratic Party filed to run for the party’s nomination, but the central committee can select a candidate if one steps forward. Hausman and her GOP primary opponent, Sheriff Ken Pingrey, are scheduled to appear together at a Republican town hall on Thursday in the Swan Lake Eastside Shelter House at 6:30 p.m. Early voting for the June 2 primary opens Wednesday.
