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Robert Norris (sheriff)

(Redirected from Robert "Bob" Norris)

Robert Brian Norris is the 13th Sheriff of Kootenai County, Idaho.[1] He defeated the Independent candidate for sheriff, Mike Bauer, in the 2020 Kootenai County Sheriff race, making him the first Kootenai County Sheriff-elect to not have any prior connection with the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office.[2] Bauer the losing candidate also had no prior connection to Kootenai County. Before becoming Sheriff, he was a lieutenant with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.[3]

Career at the LASD

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During Norris's career at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, his assignments included patrol, custody, narcotics, gangs, investigations, counter-terrorism, and emergency preparedness.[3] Norris also graduated from the LASO's Leadership Certification program.

After 9/11 Norris was selected to lead a team at the newly created Joint Regional Intelligence Center to assist the United States during the war on terror. Norris held an SCI and was responsible for managing personnel and resources from local, state, and federal agencies such as the FBI, CIA, and the US Attorney's Office while under the direction of Condoleezza Rice. After leaving the JRIC, he was promoted to Lieutenant at the LASD

Since Norris's career at the Los Angeles Sheriff's Dept, he's been a volunteer for the Kootenai County Search and Rescue team from mid-2017 to late-2019. He was later appointed to replace the out going Sheriff Wolfinger by the Kootenai BOCC as he was already the Sheriff elect.

Kootenai County Sheriff

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Norris was appointed to the office on January 1, 2021. Due to his predecessor leaving the office early, he was appointed unanimously by the Kootenai County board of commissioners.[4] He started his appointed term as Sheriff on January 1, 2021, and ended on January 10, 2021. He was officially sworn in as the elected Kootenai County Sheriff on January 11, 2021.

2020 Kootenai County Sheriff race

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Campaign

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Primary race

In late-2018, Norris announced he would run for Kootenai County Sheriff.[5] Several potential Republican sheriff candidates, including KCSO Captain Kim Edmondson, Businessman John Grimm, former U.S. prosecutor Scott Jones, former house representative John Green and retired Texas officer Richard Whitehead, all announced their campaigns shortly after one another.[6] As Jones's sheriff campaign failed to gain traction during the summer of 2019, he was pressured to drop out and make the Kootenai County Sheriff race less crowded.[7] On July 11, 2019, Jones officially dropped out of the Sheriff's race and announced the next day that he intended to endorse Norris.[8] John Green, however, which many presumed to be the front runner, never really dropped out of the race. Green had been silent for a couple of months regarding his Sheriff campaign but became officially disqualified after he was convicted in January 2020, for trying to defraud the United States.[9] Green's name never appeared on the ballot. That opened a doorway for Richard Whitehead, who would run on somewhat of a tea party platform, which many former Green supporters found appealing, since, Green did as well. Captain Kim Edmondson and businessman John Grimm joined the race as Republicans. Some local Kootenai County residents found Edmondson's campaign attractive since she was the only candidate that had law enforcement experience with-in the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office.[10]

As the primary election got closer, the race for Sheriff became much more aggressive politically;[11] one campaign had even begun being investigated by the FBI.[12] Many noted that this Sheriff election seemed much more divisive than the past ones. Sheriff Wolfinger agreeing with that sentiment but also noting that this isn't the first time a Sheriff's election had become so polarized.[13]

Sheriff Wolfinger had stated his support for the Edmondson campaign.[13] But, weeks before the election, Gov. Brad Little declared a state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making it so Idaho voters had to request an absentee ballot in order to vote in the primary election.[14] Driving down the turnout rate for primary elections throughout the state of Idaho.[15] The Norris's campaign called over 9,000 people before the election to personally connect with the public and ask for their vote.[16]

General election

With some Kootenai County residents regarding the Sheriff's primary election as one of the most divisive Kootenai County elections in modern history, some presumed that the general Sheriff election would be a breath of fresh air for voters of Kootenai County.

Mike Bauer, a former Captain at the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department decided to file his paperwork for Kootenai County Sheriff in the spring of 2019.[17] Many speculated his reason for joining the already crowded race, and why he had filed with a non-partisan affiliation even though he was registered as a Republican and the filing deadline has closed to run. In an interview Bauer did, when asked why he was running for Sheriff, he said, "I’m not —- impressed with the 4 candidates that are running, especially one that seems to have a — "alleged" - unverified background." Per Bauer[18] Bauer claimed that Norris was involved in a LA police gang without any verfication just made up speculation. Norris denied these claims. Bauer's campaign had proof that Norris had donated $600 to Paul Tanaka’s Mayor of Gardena campaign.[19] Bauer claims that Norris was involved in the LASD pay-to-play scandal without any proof other than public record campaign donation. Bauer alleges that Tanaka worked with former L.A. Sheriff Lee Baca to promote those who had donated to Tanaka’s mayoral campaign.[20] These allegations made by Bauer had nothing to do with Norris and were made as a political smear campaign against a popular candidate destined to win the local election. Norris did in fact receive a promotion within the department he worked for however, it was 6 years later after the original donation.[21] Norris did win the election with a substantial 68% percentage of votes. Bauers ugly campaign did not have the intended effect they wanted.

At the end of the Bauer campaign, Bauer had received from Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich and previous Kootenai County Sheriff Pierce Clegg, and had driven up the support for a non-partisan Sheriff office.[22] Which the Kootenai County BOCC would soon consider after the general election.[23] Kootenai County citizens voted down the BOCC recommendation for an appointed Sheriff. Kootenai County citizens wanted to keep electing their officials who represent their values.

Justin Nagel, a carpenter and Kootenai County native, decided he'd file as well. He campaigned as the only "born and raised" Idahoan candidate that had been in the race for Kootenai County Sheriff. He ran on the Libertarian ticket and received just over 8,000 votes in the general election.[24]

2020 Election results

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Official Results from the Kootenai County Clerk's Office. Sheriff candidates are listed individually below if they received more than 0.1% of the overall vote.[25]

2020 General Kootenai County Sheriff Race
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Robert "Bob" Norris 56,938 68.02%
Independent Mike Bauer 18,702 22.34%
Libertarian Justin Nagel 8,070 9.64%

Official Results from the Kootenai County Clerk's Office.[25]

2020 Primary Kootenai County Sheriff Race
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Robert "Bob" Norris 9,931 44.27%
Republican Kim Edmondson 6,011 26.80%
Republican Richard "Rick" Whitehead 4,192 18.69%
Republican John Grimm 2,298 10.24%

Personal life

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Norris's wife is Susan Mel. Norris has had a total of three children with his past spouses and is a step-father to Susan Mel's children. [citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ "LACERA Automatic Deposit Receipt" (PDF). Sheriff Norris' campaign site. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  2. ^ "Republican Bob Norris wins Kootenai County Sheriff election". Krem 2. 2 November 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  3. ^ a b "About Bob Norris". Sheriff Norris' campaign site, About Bob Norris page. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  4. ^ "Norris for sheriff? Yes — again". CDA PRESS. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  5. ^ "County Candidate Filing". Kootenai County Gov. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  6. ^ BARTHOLDT, RALPH (2020-03-04). "Norris endorsed by deputy sheriff's association". Coeur d'Alene Press. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  7. ^ "Scott Jones drops out of race for Kootenai County sheriff". AP. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  8. ^ "Scott Jones drops out of race for Kootenai County sheriff". KMVT. Associated Press. 5 July 2019. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  9. ^ "United States v. Selgas (3:18-cr-00356) Dkt 184" (PDF). Court Listener RECAP Archive.
  10. ^ None (2020-05-14). "Kim Edmondson". Coeur d'Alene Press. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  11. ^ None (2020-10-11). "Sheriff race is getting uglier". Coeur d'Alene Press. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  12. ^ "6 candidates vie to replace retiring Kootenai County sheriff | The Spokesman-Review". www.spokesman.com. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  13. ^ a b Wolfinger, Ben (2020-04-16). "Research and Opinion: Sheriff scrutinizes the candidates". Coeur d'Alene Press. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  14. ^ Barba, Alisa (13 May 2020). "Need An Absentee Ballot For Idaho's Primary? You Have To Apply Soon! Here's How". www.boisestatepublicradio.org. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  15. ^ "Looking closer at Idaho's primary election". AP NEWS. 2020-06-22. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  16. ^ Norris, Robert. "9,681 Outbound Calls". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  17. ^ "Bauer's Kootenai County Sheriff Candidate Statement" (PDF). Bauer for Sheriff.
  18. ^ Sharon, Luke (2020-03-01). "S1 - E14: Little Long with Mike Bauer | 2020 Sheriff Race". YouTube.
  19. ^ "Kootenai Co. Sheriff Candidate's Involvement in pay-to-play scandal". The Idaho Report. 2020-10-09. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  20. ^ "LASD INVESTIGATIONS – PAY TO PLAY: Does the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department have an unofficial quid pro quo promotion system? – by Matthew Fleischer |". 11 October 2012. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  21. ^ "Bob Norris-Issues". www.norris2020.com. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  22. ^ "Republican Bob Norris wins Kootenai County Sheriff election". 11Alive.com. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  23. ^ HARDY, MADISON (2021-03-02). "Is it time for a change?". Coeur d'Alene Press. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  24. ^ Nagel, Justin. "About Justin". Nagel for Sheriff. Archived from the original on 2020-11-03.
  25. ^ a b "Official 2020 Kootenai County general election results". Kootenai County Clerk's Office. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
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