{"id":550429,"date":"2021-06-03T07:36:17","date_gmt":"2021-06-03T11:36:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=550429"},"modified":"2021-06-03T07:36:19","modified_gmt":"2021-06-03T11:36:19","slug":"three-virginia-sheriffs-become-republicans-because-of-extremist-views-within-democrat-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/three-virginia-sheriffs-become-republicans-because-of-extremist-views-within-democrat-party\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Virginia Sheriffs Become Republicans Because Of Extremist Views Within Democrat Party"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthree-virginia-sheriffs-become-republicans-because-of-extremist-views-within-democrat-party%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=550429&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/DP-1200x800-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"  style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p>Three Virginia sheriffs have become Republicans and left the Democrat Party after far-left elements within it have been pushing to defund the police, which only <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2021\/03\/07\/usa-today-ipsos-poll-just-18-support-defund-police-movement\/4599232001\/\">18%<\/a> of voters support.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSheriff Chip Shuler of Smyth County, who was elected as a Democrat in 2015, was the most recent addition to the Republican Party,\u201d The Center Square <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecentersquare.com\/virginia\/third-virginia-sheriff-switches-from-democrat-to-republican-over-policing-reforms\/article_f2425c56-c312-11eb-be81-db01b3ae50a1.html\">reported<\/a>. \u201cIn 2015, Shuler was elected with slightly more than 59% of the vote and was re-elected in 2019 with slightly more than 60% of the vote. Smyth County is a mostly Republican district in which more than three-fourths of votes backed former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shuler, who made the announcement last week, had his application <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wjhl.com\/news\/local\/smyth-county-sheriff-leaves-democratic-party-joins-gop\/\">unanimously approved<\/a> by the local Republican Party and was welcomed into it by Smyth County Republican Party Chairman Adam Tolbert.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am changing to the Republican Party because of the relentless attack on law enforcement by Democrats in Richmond and Washington,\u201d Shuler said. \u201cMy deputies work hard to serve and protect the citizens of Smyth County. As sheriff, it has been difficult to watch my deputies try to move forward during this unprecedented assault on our profession. We (law enforcement) remain an honorable profession and should not be judged by the bad acts of a few. I have always been a conservative throughout my law enforcement career of 38 years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shuler\u2019s decision to abandon the Democrats and join the Republican Party comes after two other Virginia sheriffs made the same decision last year for the same reasons.<\/p>\n<p>Buchanan County Sheriff John McClanahan said in a statement that his decision was based on the \u201chit\u201d that law enforcement was taking in the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMany who know me know that my world revolves around Religion, Family, and Occupation in that order,\u201d McClanahan <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/buchananvagop\/photos\/2731539283734508\">said<\/a> late last year. \u201cMy career is a large part of my life and I consider it to be my calling. I have said it many times but the Democratic Party that we know today is no longer the party my grandfather was involved in. The ideologies of the party have shifted away from those traditional values. Currently the Democratic Party is going against everything I stand for, pushing for defunding the police and the taking away of safeguards that have been put in place for us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can no longer be associated with the National Democratic Party due to them introducing bills that negatively affect my community and my livelihood,\u201d McClanahan continued. \u201cDemocratic leaders across the country have been ones that are pushing for bills that negatively affect Law Enforcement as well as other values I stand for. I have many friends within our local Democratic Party and hold no negative feelings toward them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tazewell County Sheriff Brian Hieatt made his switch over the summer as far-left riots caused significant damage in cities across America.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter much prayer, thought and deliberation, I am giving my resignation for the Tazewell County Democratic Committee,\u201d Hieatt said. \u201cI appreciate the friendships and support I have had through the years by being affiliated with this party; however, I feel the Democratic Party\u2019s interests, especially on the state and national levels, have continued to rapidly go in the opposite direction of the beliefs that my wife and I share.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe day after the election we were hit with several Democratic proposed laws to infringe on our gun rights that I, along with all our (Tazewell) Board of Supervisors, spoke out against,\u201d Hieatt said. \u201cAlong with several of my deputies, I attended a mass protest in Richmond because I believe in the right to bear arms and the right to be able to defend ourselves. I have now witnessed over the last several months multiple Democratic-backed state laws that have passed that I feel are hindering law enforcement officers across our state, and will truly be detrimental to the victims of crimes that we are sworn to protect.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy are we being easy on criminals, not the victims?\u201d Hieatt added. \u201cLaws need to make it harder on criminals and not on victims.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hieatt said that he could \u201cno longer affiliate myself with a party that on state and national levels has become increasingly anti-law enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hieatt concluded by saying that the Democrat Party was no longer recognizable from what it used to be.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related<\/strong>:\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/nevada-mayor-leaves-democrat-party-they-have-extremist-agenda-gop-is-working-class-party-of-opportunity-hope-freedom\">Nevada Mayor Leaves Democrat Party: They Have \u2018Extremist Agenda\u2019, GOP Is Working Class Party Of Opportunity, Hope, Freedom<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><i><span>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i><span>member<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Three Virginia sheriffs have become Republicans and left the Democrat Party after far-left elements within it have been pushing to defund the police, which only 18% of voters support.\u201cSheriff Chip &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2279018,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/DP-1200x800-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Three Virginia Sheriffs Become Republicans Because Of Extremist Views Within Democrat Party","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-550429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/DP-1200x800-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Three Virginia Sheriffs Become Republicans Because Of Extremist Views Within Democrat Party","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550429\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2279018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}