Longtime sheriff loses re-election bid to former deputy

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - The longtime sheriff in North Carolina’s Wake County lost his bid for re-election to a former deputy.

News outlets report that unofficial results show Sheriff Donnie Harrison, a Republican seeking a fifth term, lost Tuesday to Democratic Gerald Baker, who retired from his sergeant’s job in May. Baker had 55 percent of the vote to Harrison’s 46 percent.

Baker made an immigration enforcement program a key issue. Wake County is one of six North Carolina counties that partner with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to transfer people who have been arrested and are believed to be in the U.S. illegally to federal custody.

Harrison defended the program as a way to ensure public safety, but Baker said some are arrested on minor infractions, and the program tears families apart.