The votes are in, and Brad Freeman now celebrates and takes in the new title as Monroe County Sheriff. Freeman won against Lawson Cary Bittick III, by around 1,000 votes. A Bittick has served as sheriff for 92 out of the last 100 years. Freeman says it’s not about the name, it’s the individual who you think will do the best job.
"Everybody has a family name. It just means you’re a part of a family, so you pick the individual that you think or feel can do the job, and it's just not a name," says Freeman.
With 32 years of law enforcement under his belt, Freeman feels ready to start his new job, “I knew it would be a tight race and I really had no idea who it would be. I worked hard, he worked hard. I just had no idea how it would turn out. I’m just obviously very excited and ready to take on the new challenge.”
And once he takes office, Freeman knows what he wants to do. “Starting a crime scene unit. And I certainly want to add some people to patrol -- that’s kind of what I ran on and that’s what I want to continue to run on is adding people to patrol to better serve the citizens in this county so we can respond quicker to these calls and solve crimes. That’s what it’s all about, no matter who won.”
Freeman says that he could be sworn in as early as the next day.