Independent Richard Dixon is expected to announce the official suspension of his campaign for Richmond County Sheriff during an appearance Friday afternoon on The Austin Rhodes Show.
Dixon will appear with Eugene “Gino Rock” Brantley to make the announcement, ending his signature drive and clearing the path for Brantley to work on his transition with Sheriff Richard Roundtree.
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Dixon said Thursday that he had always intended to drop out if someone defeated the incumbent sheriff in the Democratic primary. Change was needed, and he wanted to make himself an option. This week, he encouraged supporters to vote for Brantley in the Democrat runoff.
For his run, Dixon needed 6,700 verified signatures, but he had a goal of 7,500. The campaign was on the way to meeting the signature goal to get on the November ballot against the Democrat challenger. He said they had over 85% of the goal with the July deadline looming.
“At the rate we were going, we would have made it,” he said.
Still, their campaign strategy revolved around beating Roundtree in November, and they had a plan to defeat the three-term incumbent. That is no longer necessary, he said.
“Since Gino won it, it gives me an opportunity to go back to being semi-retired and returning to family life,” he said.
A former RCSO deputy, Dixon spent the last 20 years of his career working for the Georgia Public Safety Training Center (GPSTC). Since retiring, Dixon developed a Criminal Justice Pathway program for the Georgia School for Innovation and the Classics in Hephzibah. He then took a position teaching the course to high school students wishing to enter the field of public service.
How does he feel about Brantley winning?
“If I had to put any emotion to it, I am glad,” he said. “I am glad there is a new sheriff in town.”
After shaking hands with thousands of residents and looking them in the eye, he has a theory on why Sheriff Roundtree lost.
“I think being inaccessible to the people who put him there to begin with,” he said.
About 65% of the people he met were Black. When his campaign would first approach them, many didn’t want anything to do with him – until they learned he was running for sheriff.
“When they heard sheriff, they said yes, I will sign. We need someone we can talk to,” Dixon said. “You take that and – for lack of a better word – I think his arrogance that he thought he couldn’t be beat. I think he tried to do too little, too late.”
Dixon’s advice for Brantley’s administration is to stick to his promises and be accessible to people. “And I am certain he will,” Dixon said.
Dixon expressed appreciation for the hard work of wife, sister, his youngest son, several retail businesses that stepped up, and a pair he would only name as Melissa and Chris.
“There is also one particular Hephzibah resident, a career politician,” he said. “He got 1,000 signatures by himself.”
He also said his campaign proved a point that other potential candidates could consider in the future.
“I believe my campaign has shown that an independent candidate can be viable,” he said. “Our numbers say we would have beaten the incumbent, if it had gone that far.”
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