Prairie Village Police Chief Byron Roberson filed last week to run for Johnson County Sheriff in 2024, joining former undersheriff Doug Bedford of De Soto in the race.
Sheriff Calvin Hayden, the conservative incumbent, was first elected in 2016 and ran unopposed in 2020. Since reelection, Hayden has been investigating Johnson County election results, but despite his claims, he has so far failed to produce any confirmed cases of voter fraud.
Recently, Hayden has been under fire for his embrace of conspiracy theories.
Kyle Palmer, editor for the Blue Valley Post and Shawnee Mission Post, said Bedford and Roberson have both called for more transparency in the sheriff's office.
"Neither of them so far have gone so far as to directly mention Hayden's election investigation as the reason they're running," Palmer told KCUR's Up To Date. "But if you choose to read between the lines of some of their campaign literature so far, maybe you could draw that conclusion."
- Kyle Palmer, Blue Valley Post and Shawnee Mission Post editor
