Frank Denning, who spent more than a decade leading the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department, is endorsing Sheriff Calvin Hayden’s Republican challenger – a stunning vote of no-confidence from Hayden’s immediate predecessor.
Denning, the sheriff from 2005 through early 2017, threw his support behind Doug Bedford, a former Navy SEAL and Johnson County undersheriff under Hayden. Denning didn’t directly criticize Hayden but made clear that he believes the current sheriff has lost the public’s trust.
“Doug Bedford will answer to all the people of Johnson County and restore the faith in the office of Sheriff,” Denning wrote in a letter. “The citizens of Johnson County will be represented by a Sheriff, who is professional and will carry out the duties of the office.”
Bedford said in a statement that he was honored by Denning’s endorsement.
The endorsement comes less than three weeks before the Aug. 6 primary election. Hayden and Bedford have been locked in a competitive race, with Hayden’s detractors alleging he has mismanaged the department and sullied the agency with a futile investigation into the county’s elections that’s produced no fraud and led to no criminal charges.
Hayden in turn has warned voters that changing sheriffs would be too much of a risk in uncertain times. He has also suggested that voters should support him because of former President Donald Trump.
“President Trump faces a monumental challenge and needs honorable, experienced men and women of integrity in law enforcement to support him and keep our country safe,” Hayden wrote in a social media post on Thursday that included a photo of him with Trump.
Denning’s law enforcement career spanned four decades. Johnson County completed a significant jail expansion and built communications and laboratory facilities during his tenure.
Earlier this month, Hayden announced he was pausing his elections investigation. False conspiracy theories surrounding the integrity of Johnson County’s elections have taken root, fueled in part by Hayden’s investigation, which he has promoted repeatedly in front of conservative audiences.
Hayden still plans to participate in an event in late July in Shawnee called “Unveiling the Data” that appears set to focus on elections.
The Johnson County investigation appeared centered on Konnech , an election software company that has called the investigation “baseless.”
Los Angeles County agreed to pay $5 million to Konnech CEO Eugene Yu, who sued over civil rights violations after he was arrested there in 2022 on accusations that he illegally stored poll worker data in China. The case was dropped a few weeks later, with the district attorney citing “potential bias” in the investigation.
Johnson County had used Konnech’s software to help manage election workers; the program had nothing to do with voting or voting information. The county stopped using the software in 2022.
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