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Former Guilford County Sheriff Plans to Run for Mayor of Summerfield

Official filling doesn't start till July, but a longtime sheriff, who lost in November 2018, is running for mayor.

SUMMERFIELD, N.C. — BJ Barnes, the former Guilford County Sheriff, is planning to run for a new role in Guilford County politics. 

Barnes has started the process to run for mayor of Summerfield, NC. 

Documents from the Guilford County Board of Elections show that Barnes changed his candidate committee name back in January to Elect BJ Barnes, but didn't say a specific office. 

'This Was The Perfect Job, It Still Is': BJ Barnes Reflects On 24-Year Run As Sheriff

Last Sunday, Barnes again filed another change to the Board of Elections, this time writing under office sought "Mayor - Summerfield" for the November 2019 election. 

Barnes was the sheriff of Guilford County for 24 years. Barnes lost last November's election to current sheriff Danny Rogers. 

Official candidate filling starts on July 5th.

Two Longtime Triad Sheriffs Lose Bid For Reelection: Guilford, Forsyth Counties

We spoke with Barnes at his home on Thursday. He said, he didn't originally intend to run for the position.

"I didn’t go looking for it to be honest with you, it came to me," he said, "When folks asked me to do it, to be honest with you, I thought you know… And then I thought, you can do this because I had a $64 million budget, I had 650 employees, I think that I could handle a couple employees that Summerfield has and the budget that they have."

The former Guilford County Sheriff moved to Summerfield 1983, and lived there ever since. 

"This is where my wife grew up. She has a hometown girl. But to be honest with you, I wasn't excepted for a while," he laughed, "You have to be around for a while. They have to make sure they'll let you stay or not, but luckily they did."

Barnes wants to work on a development plan for the rural community, and hopes to bring water lines close to the fire department.. right now, most of the town runs on wells. Plus, he wants to expand on outdoor space for families, like the park.

"I'm going to run a campaign based on making Summerfield better," he said.

Even though he lost the Sheriff's race, Barnes is still vocal on social media, and he doesn't plan to stop speaking his mind - as he enters this next chapter.

"When I was Sheriff, I did it. I will do it as mayor," he said, "I will tell you exactly what I think, in the direction that we're heading in."

Barnes says he'll release all of his platforms and positions next week. 

We reached out several times this afternoon and evening to the current Summerfield mayor, Gail Dunham. She still hasn't gotten back to us with a comment. 

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