Jefferson County elects black female sheriff

BEAUMONT—Voters in a southeast Texas county elected a black, Democratic woman as sheriff while choosing Republican Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton, an unusual result in a year of partisan acrimony.

Some voters in Jefferson County ended up crossing party lines to cast their ballots for who they thought was the best candidate in each of the races—defying the practice of party line voting in an election that showed a deep red-blue political divide.

When Zena Stephens takes office Jan. 1, she will join Vanessa Crawford in Petersburg, Virginia, as the only black women sheriffs in the U.S., according to the National Sheriff's Association.

Stephens credited her win in the sheriff's race to her long history in the community and to relationships she's built across political party lines. She said it's likely that there were Democratic voters who cast a ballot for her but who also voted for Trump.

Read more: http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/texas/story/2016/nov/16/texas-county-elects-black-female-sheriff-votes-trump/649236/