The deputy he fired came back and took his badge.
Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones, who held the office for 28 years without a serious challenge, was defeated Tuesday by Cam Hunt, the Marine veteran Jones terminated last October for daring to run against him.
Hunt won 51% to 49%, a margin of 307 votes out of 18,295 cast. He will be the first new Lee County sheriff in nearly three decades.
The race became one of the most closely watched local contests in Alabama after Jones fired Hunt on the spot in October 2025. Hunt had met with Jones as a professional courtesy to inform him he intended to run.
Jones responded with a termination letter that made the reason explicit: Hunt was fired for announcing his candidacy.
“No one should ever be threatened or silenced for exercising their rights as private citizens,” Hunt said at the time. “The Sheriff’s Office should stand as a safeguard of liberty, not an obstacle to it.”
Jones, 71, defended the firing by saying an opponent working inside his office would create “dissension” and threaten public safety. He had served as sheriff since 1998 and had not faced an opponent since 2002. Five straight election cycles, nobody ran against him.
Hunt, a 37-year-old Marine Corps captain who holds a political science degree from Auburn University, made the firing the centerpiece of his campaign and framed it as proof that Jones had grown more comfortable with power than accountability.
“This is his sixth term, and this is the first time anyone has ever challenged him in an election,” Hunt said. “I think it shocked him.”
The race took a sharp turn in April when a Guatemalan national wanted on a first-degree rape warrant shot Lee County deputies with an AK-47.
Hunt had called out Jones the night before the shooting at a candidate forum for refusing to join the federal 287(g) program, which allows local law enforcement to work directly with ICE to identify and remove illegal immigrants who commit crimes. Thirty-six Alabama sheriff’s offices participate. Lee County does not.
“What makes this even more concerning is that the night before this happened, at the candidate forum, I spoke about the fact that 36 Sheriff’s Offices in Alabama are actively participating in the ICE 287(g) program,” Hunt said. “Lee County is not one of them. That is a failure of leadership.”
Hunt pledged to enroll Lee County in the 287(g) program immediately upon taking office. Jones called the criticism “reckless accusations” and a “cheap political stunt.”
BamaCarry and the National Association for Gun Rights PAC backed Hunt, pointing to Jones’ previous testimony against constitutional carry legislation as it moved through the Alabama Legislature. “Cam Hunt is the only 100% pro-gun candidate in this race,” the organizations said. Hunt out-fundraised Jones nearly two-to-one, raising $113,472 to Jones’ $57,188.
Tuesday’s voters sided with the deputy.
A local editorial in the East Alabama Examiner captured the mood in the closing days of the race: “It’s obviously time for some more youthful and energetic leadership. I want a lawman, not a politician.”
Sawyer Knowles is a capitol reporter for Yellowhammer News. You may contact him at [email protected].
