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2020 is looking to be a pivotal year in politics. But this year's elections are about much more than the race for the White House. And the coronavirus pandemic is proving to be a complicating factor. WKSU, our colleagues at public radio stations across Ohio and the region and at NPR will bring you coverage of all the races from the national to the local level.

Democratic Candidates for Summit County Sheriff Meet Up in Only Debate Before the Primary

photo of Democratic candidates for Summit County sheriff
SHANE WYNN
The Democratic candidates for Summit County sheriff: (from l. to r.) Dale Soltis, Patrick Hunt, Kandy Fatheree and John Peake

Tuesday night, the four democratic candidates for Summit County sheriff met for the one and only debate of their campaign.  The event, sponsored by the Akron Press Club took place at the Akron Summit County Public library and was moderated by WKSU’s M.L. Schultze.

The four Democratic candidates are all current or retired sheriff’s deputies:

  • Kandy Fatheree, a captain who started her career with community policing and criminal investigations in Lakemore.
  • Patrick Hunt, a sergeant who retired in 2018 as a supervisor in the narcotics division after assignments in corrections, patrol and the detective bureau.
  • John Peake, a Navy veteran who retired shortly after becoming a captain following three decades in corrections, the patrol division, the honor guard unit and detective bureau.
  • Dale Soltis, who ran day-to-day operations at the Summit County Jail before retiring in 2017 to become the Stark County jail commander.

The winner will face Republican Shane Barker in the fall election. Barker was a captain who worked in corrections, patrol and other divisions before retiring in 2018 as field supervisor for the Summit County Drug Unit.

Andrew Meyer is the deputy editor of news at Ideastream Public Media.