In any campaign, there are bound to be rumors and gossip
circulating. I thought that here it
would be appropriate to offer some facts about Sheriff Whitney, which are
indisputable and tell a lot about the kind of person that he is. Rick Whitney, unlike his opponent, who as far
as I can tell has never run for election anywhere, anytime, has run for
county-wide office three times. What is
especially telling about these races is the strong and consistent support that he
has received from those with whom he has worked. In his first race for sheriff, in which among
4 primary candidates he was unsuccessful, he nonetheless garnered 71 percent of
the vote from Bolivar, the town in which he had been police officer and chief
for many years. Later in the 2010 election
for sheriff, he received 77 percentage of the vote county-wide, and from
Bolivar, 87 percent of the vote cast there.
Perhaps even more telling, in his last race for sheriff, after having
served a full term in that office, although unopposed, he received 80 percent
of the county-wide vote. This means that
a significant number of non-Republicans voting in that election voted for
him. In other words Democrats,
Independents, etc., moved from their lines to vote for Rick Whitney for sheriff
on the Republican line. The take-away
from these numbers is that Rick Whitney has been a respected community leader
and a fine public servant and that the voters whom he has represented have
consistently confirmed this.
Sincerely,Robert Heineman
Alfred, N.Y.