NORTHAMPTON — Only 17% of Bay State voters can identify their county sheriff, according to a new poll released Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and Beacon Research, while most want a sheriff who addresses the substance abuse and mental health challenges that can lead to incarceration.
Part of the ACLU’s nonpartisan “Know Your Sheriff” campaign, the online poll of 970 Massachusetts voters found that just 45% of respondents planned to vote in their county race before they started answering the survey questions, which contain information about a sheriff’s responsibilities and pay, but 71% said they would vote once their poll was complete.
“There is a real potential to change how voters view sheriffs … and to increase participation by informing them in that way,” Chris Anderson, founder and president of Beacon Research, said during a virtual press conference Wednesday.
Javier Luengo-Garrido, an ACLU organizing strategist, said the poll showed 41% of voters did not know that sheriffs were elected and less than one-third believed a sheriff makes “a major impact” on the state’s criminal justice system. Sheriffs run county jails and houses of correction.
“It is clear that Massachusetts voters need to get to know their sheriff,” Luengo-Garrido said. “We have the power to elect sheriffs who are committed” to healing people with drug addictions and mental health problems, rather than focusing on punishment and “retribution.”
Luengo-Garrido pointed out that 65% of voters said providing services for mental health, drug treatment and emotional support should be among a sheriff’s top priorities, while 47% said punishment should be a top priority. Voters were also supportive of education, vocational training and reentry services.
In Hampshire County, 24 people took the poll and 13% correctly identified Patrick Cahillane as their sheriff. Eighteen people took the poll in Franklin County and 33% correctly named Sheriff Christopher Donelan.
Cahillane is running for the Democratic nomination for a second six-year term against corrections nurse Caitlin Sepeda, who was certified for the Sept. 6 primary ballot by Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin’s office on Wednesday, and Yvonne Gittelson, the corrections program specialist for the state education department.
The winner of the primary will face independent John Vanasse, the administrative lieutenant of the Springfield College Police Department, in the Nov. 8 general election. No Republicans or other party members have declared their candidacy for sheriff to date, but there is still time for the field to expand.
The Hampshire County sheriff runs the jail on Rocky Hill Road in Northampton. In Greenfield, Donelan, who currently faces no opposition in November, runs the Franklin County Jail and House of Correction on Elm Street.
ACLU field director Laura Rótolo said that county sheriffs are “an almost invisible force in our communities, but the decisions they make every day ripple beyond those jail walls.”
Rótolo said some sheriffs have “gone out of their way” to help federal immigration authorities conduct deportations, creating a rift between local law enforcement and immigrant communities.
The data show that 78% of voters consider a commitment to “racial justice” to be an extremely or very important attribute for a sheriff candidate, while 84% believe that law enforcement experience is extremely or very important.
Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, said a similar 2018 poll about the role of district attorneys found voters were not generally well informed about their DA or the office’s responsibilities, but they were much more likely to research candidates and vote in their local race once they learned that information.
“Voters, when they’re informed, tend to vote more often and they get involved and candidates become more responsive,” Rose said.
The “Know Your Sheriff” campaign will feature online and social media materials, educational events and possibly candidate debates, ACLU officials said.
In the ACLU poll, conducted in late January, 81% of all respondents were white, 44% were between the ages of 45-64, 53% identified as female and 42% were independents, the highest share of any political designation. Fifteen percent of respondents were Republicans.
Only 22% of those polled said they believe the criminal justice system works the “same for everyone” in Massachusetts.
Brian Steele can be reached at bsteele@gazettenet.com.