SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. — Susanna Johnson has beat incumbent Adam Fortney in the race for Snohomish County sheriff in the 2023 general election.
KING 5 called the race for Johnson on Friday. Johnson, deputy chief with Bothell police, was leading with 52% of the vote, with Fortney trailing with 48%.
"I think a lot of it has to do, maybe, with some extreme politics that came in this time," Johnson said on Nov. 7.
She added that in the past it would be difficult for people to tell which sheriff candidates were Democrats and which were Republicans.
Counties will release additional results in the days after the election as more ballots are counted. Additional results are typically released daily.
Fortney rose through the ranks as a graveyard patrol sergeant to become sheriff four years ago.
Johnson spent 30 years with the sheriff's office only to retire quite briefly before joining the Bothell Police Department as a deputy chief.
Both candidates are running on their records.
Fortney brought in body cameras to the sheriff's office, started a community advisory board, and installed a body scanner at the county jail.
His rival believes her longer career makes her the better choice.
"I was a detective, a K9 handler, a SWAT team member, a squad leader on SWAT. Also, I've done those administrative roles," Johnson previously said.
When asked what he plans to do over the next four years if reelected, Fortney simply states, "Keep on doing exactly what we're doing."
Fortney has survived two recall attempts after the outspoken sheriff expressed his displeasure with Gov. Inslee's COVID lockdowns via Facebook posts, saying he would not enforce a "stay at home" order.
The sheriff still stands by his decision.
"Looking back, historically speaking, I think it was the right thing to do," Fortney previously said. "I wish I would have worded it a little different. The last thing I wanted was to create division within the community. But if we're not, as elected officials, able to stand up and speak our mind, what are we doing here?"
"Public safety can't be left or right, Republican or Democrat," Johnson countered. "Especially if you use the position to state your own personal political objectives, it does undermine that public trust."
"I'm not a political guy," Fortney argued. "I don't care about blue team or red team, Republican, Democrat. I do not care."
During his tenure Fortney shepherded the department through uncharted waters: the COVID-19 pandemic, national upheaval over the killing of George Floyd and a state supreme court decision that essentially legalized small amounts of drugs.
There has been a spate of overdoses and deaths at the Snohomish County jail under Fortney's watch. There were seven overdoses in a single night this past May. None of those seven inmates died.
Fortney argues his staff is keeping prisoners safe in spite of the deadly fentanyl epidemic.