Sheriff Sanders to face detective challenger in 2026 Thurston County Sheriff race
Thurston County voters will get to decide whether to re-elect Sheriff Derek Sanders in the November election.
Sanders announced his candidacy in a brief post to his official Facebook page Thursday.
“I have filed to run for my second term as Sheriff of Thurston County as a nonpartisan independent,” Sanders said in the post.
The Sheriff’s Office polices unincorporated areas of Thurston County and runs a jail based in Tumwater with a total annual budget of around $67 million. If re-elected, Sanders will serve another four-year term starting in 2027.
In a news release, Sanders’ campaign touted endorsements from every mayor in the county as well as county commissioners Carolina Mejia, Tye Menser and Wayne Fournier. His campaign also explained his decision to run as an independent again.
“Impartiality remains central to effective law enforcement and is a key reason Sanders is continuing his re-election campaign as a non-partisan independent,” the release states.
Sanders announced his candidacy about two weeks after one of his employees, Kevin Burton-Crow, launched his own campaign. Burton-Crow, a Special Victims Detective and retired U.S. Army Sergeant First Class, is running as a Democrat.
“I’m running for Sheriff because our community deserves a modern, transparent, and accountable law enforcement agency that works closely with the public,” Burton-Crow said in a January news release.
Burton-Crow said he’s running as a Democrat because that’s where his “values lie.” Yet, he said he believes the sheriff’s job should “rise above partisan grandstanding.”
“Being sheriff is a serious and important job,” Burton-Crow said. “We should do more than just react to incidents. By working together with the community, we can build trust and keep everyone safe.”
Burton-Crow has received about $18,325 in campaign contributions as of Feb. 6, according to the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission.
No contributions have been reported for Sanders yet, however that will likely change soon. Thursday evening, Sanders posted a photo on Facebook of himself among a group of people at a “day zero” fundraiser party.
Since stepping into the role in 2023, Sanders has prioritized improving staffing levels in the Sheriff’s Office. In his first year, he backed a voter-approved public safety sales tax. The windfall from that tax has allowed his office to hire more deputies.
In 2023, the Sheriff’s Office had 33 working patrol deputies and eight detectives serving the county. Those numbers have since risen to 55 working patrol deputies and 18 detectives, according to Sanders’ campaign release.
“Working in partnership with county leadership, the office revamped equipment and vehicles, increased training opportunities and strengthened pay and benefits for all employees,” the release states.
Sanders also has overseen the implementation of new body-worn cameras as well as pursuit alternative technologies, including novel grappler nets and GPS trackers.
Early last year, the county finalized a $14.3 million real estate deal for a 56,000-square-foot building on a 2.36-acre site at 1111 Israel Road SW, which is near Tumwater High School and Interstate 5.
The Sheriff’s Office expects to fully move into the new facility later this spring, The Olympian previously reported.
“These improvements didn’t happen because of one person,” Sanders said in the release. “They happened because Sheriff’s Office employees, county leadership and community members worked together with a shared commitment to public safety.”
The public can visit burton-crowforsheriff.com and sandersforsheriff.org for more information about each candidate.
