In March 2024, voters in Randall County will be electing their sheriff for the next four years. Incumbent Chris Forbis is seeking re-election to a second term in office and is being opposed by Roger Short, another career law enforcement veteran.

The race is an unusual one in Amarillo, as most incumbent sheriffs in recent years have faced no opposition in their re-election campaigns. Beyond just this point, the last time that a sheriff’s position came open in Amarillo led to an uncontested race, when Forbis was elected in 2020 to replace Joel Richardson, who retired after several terms as Randall County’s top law enforcement official.

To find the last contested race for a sheriff’s office in Amarillo, voters have to go all the way back to 2008 — and head to Randall County’s neighbor to the north, Potter County.

In 2008, voters in Potter County decided a five-way Republican primary and a general election contest to determine who would be the county’s top law enforcement official. At the time, incumbent Mike Shumate sought re-election amid controversy, and drew four opponents in the primary: Brian Thomas, Ken Farren, Frank Frausto Jr., and Clay Duke.

Despite an incumbent being on the ballot, voters decided to pass on giving Shumate another four years in office. Instead, voters sent Thomas, a longtime Amarillo Police officer, and Duke, another career law enforcement officer, to a runoff in April of that year. With a short turnaround for the runoff, Thomas defeated Duke, winning 63 percent of the vote.

Thomas’ time on the campaign trail wasn’t over, however, as he still had to get through the Democratic nominee for the office — police veteran Robert Taylor. After a heated back-and-forth campaign, Thomas defeated Taylor with 66 percent of the vote.

Following the 2008 race, Thomas would go on to be re-elected unopposed in 2012, 2016, and 2020. Thomas is also set to win re-election unopposed in 2024. Meanwhile, Taylor would be elected as a justice of the peace in Potter County in 2018, winning re-election in 2022. In both races, Taylor was nominated as a Republican candidate.

Only time will tell what voters have in store for deciding Randall County’s sheriff’s race in 2024. However, whoever wins will add their name to the list of elected sheriffs in Amarillo who first had to get through some tough competition at the ballot box before winning their offices.