One thing Lewis County voters should not forget: We can still elect our sheriff, unlike some hope for Pierce County.
They are voting on giving away that right. Their choice is a communist political appointee or someone they choose to elect. There’s the difference. Elected officials work for us. Appointees don’t.
After 25 years in the military, I learned something you won’t hear in campaign speeches: institutional knowledge matters. Over time, you learn who can be trusted, who knows their job, who takes care of their people, who can disagree without becoming disloyal, and who accepts responsibility when things go wrong.
Those traits aren’t learned in a campaign cycle. They’re learned over years. Continuity of command is important. I look at the Lewis County sheriff’s race differently.
Murphy’s campaign is explicitly political in tone: “Vote Change. Vote Murphy,” “Lewis County needs a leader,” and repeated emphasis on professionalism, accountability, transparency and partnerships. Those are fine words, but campaigns should identify problems and explain why the candidate is better positioned to fix them.
To my knowledge, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office hasn’t had any major public failures, although there are some old grudges being drug out that have no bearing on this race.
The sheriff’s first responsibility is to the citizens who call for help, not politics.
Frase has no elected experience, and his pamphlet says running for sheriff wasn’t originally his plan. But he also said that when making decisions, it’s important to focus on “what is right” and not “who is right.”
That’s not ego; that’s leadership. Good leaders don’t care who gets credit.
Gabriel Frase joined the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office in 2002 after serving in the Marines. Since then, he has worked patrol, field training, search and rescue, K9, investigations, and several supervisory assignments before reaching his current position as special services chief. That’s decades of institutional knowledge.
Sheriff John McCroskey’s endorsement of Frase matters. McCroskey and Frase overlapped from 2002 to 2005, and McCroskey has watched Frase’s career develop for more than two decades. When a leader publicly expresses confidence in someone’s character and judgment, I pay attention.
I don’t know either man personally. But I understand how leaders recognize and develop good people. In the Army, when you find someone with character, ability and judgment, you mentor them. You watch their career grow. Relationships are built on earned trust.
None of this means an insider automatically deserves the job or that Murphy isn’t qualified. The difference is; Frase’s experience is inside the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, and he already understands its people, procedures and culture. I’m confident he’s seen many problems that need fixing, but he never had the power.
I believe Gabrial Frase deserves a chance. Most good people doubt themselves more than those they lead.
Campaigns are measured in slogans. Leadership is measured in years and knowledge. Am I right? I don’t know. But I at least have an impartial standard I can explain.
Ray Anderson
Ethel
