Updated: Jenkins opens lead against Bickel in sheriff's race

Nov. 9—In the race for Frederick County sheriff, Republican incumbent Chuck Jenkins leads Democrat Karl Bickel by roughly 14 percentage points.

Jenkins had 45,884 votes, or 56.93%, and Bickel had 34,629, or 42.96%. The numbers included all 83 Election Day precincts, plus all early voting results and partial results from mail-in voting.

As of 6 p.m. on Monday, Frederick County had sent 29,263 mail-in ballots and received 18,029 of them. Of the total number of mail-ins received, 11,298 were received by Democrats, 3,943 were received by Republicans and 2,788 were received by "others," such as unaffiliated voters.

Jenkins has been sheriff since 2006. If he wins, this would be his fifth term.

This is Bickel's third time on the ballot as the Democratic candidate for sheriff. He lost the first two times.

Hundreds gathered at the Lewistown Volunteer Fire Company on Tuesday to support Jenkins. When Jenkins walked in, people cheered, clapped and chanted "Chuck" over and over again.

Jenkins said in an interview that he has worked hard the last four years. He was guardedly optimistic about the results, he said.

"I put everything into it," he said.

Bickel said in an interview Tuesday night that he was cautiously optimistic. He was picking up signs at polling stations around 9:30 p.m.

"I think things have started moving in our direction for a lot of reasons," he said.

As of 6 p.m. on Monday, the county had received 18,029 mail-in ballots. The county sent out 29,263 ballots.

In 2014, Jenkins beat Bickel by 26 percentage points — just over 19,400 votes. That margin became slimmer in the 2018 elections, when Jenkins beat Bickel by 6 percentage points — nearly 5,700 votes.

If he becomes sheriff, Bickel said, he would end Frederick County's participation in the 287(g) program, which allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to train law enforcement officers to ask the immigration status of those booked at jails. In Frederick County, only correctional officers are trained to ask about the immigration status of inmates at the Adult Detention Center.

Unlike Bickel, Jenkins is a supporter of the 287(g) program. Jenkins said he would continue the sheriff's office partnership with the program.

Before Jenkins joined law enforcement, he worked for COMSAT, a communication satellite corporation.

He has been with the sheriff's office for 32 years.

He was on patrol for three years, then shifted to criminal investigations, where he worked for 16 years.

Bickel began his law enforcement career in Washington, D.C., with the Metropolitan Police Department. He became a detective and stayed for just under nine years before leaving in 1978.

After the Metropolitan Police Department, Bickel briefly managed a private investigation firm in Rockville, then became a law enforcement specialist with the National Institute of Justice for a few years.

In the 1990s, Bickel worked with the Frederick County Sheriff's Office as second in command under Sheriff Carl Harbaugh as chief of law enforcement operations. He was with the sheriff's office for four years.

Around 2014, Bickel retired from the Department of Justice after 16 years there. He later worked as a senior policy analyst in the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, which helps provide training and technical assistance to law enforcement agencies all over the country.