When Franklin County voters cast their ballots in the primary election earlier this year, there was hardly a question of who would become the next county sheriff.
John Grismore — the top deputy in the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office at the time — was the only candidate running to replace his boss, Sheriff Roger Langevin, who is not seeking another term. Grismore won more than 80% of the vote in the Republican primary and got enough Democratic write-in votes to win that party’s primary, too.
But the days following the Aug. 9 election turned the sheriff’s race on its head.
That week, Grismore was placed on leave after two other deputies saw him kick a man who was handcuffed in the department’s custody just two days before the election. The deputies reported Grismore’s use of force to superiors, leading the department to launch an internal investigation into the incident and release video of it to the press.
Eleven days later, Langevin fired Grismore, calling the deputy’s actions “egregious.”
Vermont State Police began investigating Grismore’s conduct in August. The results of that investigation led a state prosecutor to charge Grismore with simple assault stemming from his actions on Aug. 7. (Grismore has pleaded not guilty.)
Soon after the video surfaced, the Franklin County Democratic and Republican parties called on Grismore to exit the race. But he has declined to do so, arguing that he need not drop out because he believes that he did nothing wrong.
The local political parties have since voted to support Mark Lauer, a lieutenant in the sheriff’s office running one of two write-in campaigns that emerged after the primary. Lauer led the sheriff’s department’s investigation into Grismore’s conduct.
Gale Messier, a former Chittenden County Sheriff’s Office employee who also ran for Franklin County sheriff in 2010, is asking voters to write in his name as well.
The write-in candidates are taking contrasting messages to voters. Lauer is talking up his experience working for the sheriff’s department, while Messier says that the office needs “fresh eyes,” especially after the events of the past several months.
In a way, though, little has changed: Grismore remains the only sheriff candidate on the ballot heading into Election Day. Local party members have acknowledged it is often difficult to win a write-in campaign, and may be especially so if the write-in vote gets splintered between two candidates. Grismore, they’ve said, may well win as a result.
“We’ve got an uphill battle,” said Corey Parent, who chairs the Franklin County Republican Party. The party has included Lauer in campaign mailers and online advertisements this fall, Parent said, supporting him as it would any other candidate for local or state office.
While the county GOP endorsed Lauer’s write-in bid unanimously, the local Democrats were divided over whether to endorse Lauer or not endorse any candidate at all.
Zach Scheffler, chair of the Franklin County Democrats, wrote in a text message that “when asked,” the party has offered Lauer advice on how to run his campaign.
Whether or not Grismore is found guilty, if he’s elected next month, he could be removed from office only via impeachment by the Legislature, according to John Lavoie, the acting Franklin County state’s attorney. Lavoie is the Democratic nominee for that office this fall, facing Republican candidate Zach Weight.
Lavoie, who has called on Grismore to end his bid for sheriff and voiced his support for Lauer’s write-in campaign, said he does not think Grismore can be an effective sheriff after being charged with a crime and, at minimum, kicking a suspect as shown in the video.
Weight declined to share his opinion on Grismore’s conduct, and said he would leave questions about Grismore’s effectiveness “to the rank and file officers.” He did say that he also is supporting Lauer’s write-in bid.
“We have to allow the (legal) process to play out,” Weight said. “Mr. Grismore is innocent until proven guilty.”
Lauer is the only candidate for Franklin County sheriff this fall who has filed campaign finance information with the Vermont Secretary of State’s Office. An Oct. 2 filing shows Lauer had brought in about $5,800 for his campaign, with about $4,700 of that coming out of his own pocket. He had spent about $2,500 as of Oct. 2.
Messier said he has not raised enough money to require filing a report with the state. He recalled getting a $25 donation from a friend, and said he had spent about $300 on campaign signs. (“That’s all my wife would let me spend,” he quipped.)
Grismore did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
Lauer’s campaign is perhaps the most visible across Franklin County, with his red, white and blue campaign signs far outnumbering those for Messier and Grismore.
Asked about his outsized spending in the race, Lauer said he believes it is necessary to get his name in front of voters so that they think of him when filling out their ballots.
“Without it, people don’t know who I am,” he said in an interview Wednesday.
Lauer was hired at the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office in 2017 and currently works with the Northwest Unit for Special Investigations, which is responsible for investigating crimes such as sexual assualt and child abuse. He previously worked with the Vermont State Police for 27 years, according to his campaign website, and has also been a task force officer working with the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Lauer said he was responsible for the internal investigation into Grismore’s conduct, though the decisions to suspend and ultimately fire Grismore were Langevin’s. He declined to provide additional information about the investigation or his role in it.
He also declined to comment on Grismore’s assault charge.
Lauer was present when a state police trooper investigating Grismore’s conduct interviewed Karry Andileigh and Christopher Major — the two deputies who saw Grismore kick the man in custody — according to court documents released Oct. 24.
The current lieutenant said he previously had no intention of running for sheriff this year because he did not think he could compete with Grismore’s name recognition. After the department released video of the Aug. 7 incident, Lauer said several people contacted the office to express their interest in running a write-in bid against Grismore.
However, he said, “the general consensus in the office was, they were not happy with the people that had reached out. And at that point, I did a little soul searching and determined that I thought I would be well received by the agency if I ran.”
Lauer said he has “100%” support for his campaign within the sheriff’s office. Grismore has also claimed to have support within the agency for his campaign.
Messier has positioned himself as an outsider and been a vocal critic of Grismore, saying in an interview this week he believes the assault charge was justified.
The St. Albans resident worked as a U.S. Military Police officer for about two decades, then spent about 20 years working at the Chittenden County Sheriff’s Office. He said he would bring that experience to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office if elected.
Messier was the Republican nominee for Franklin County sheriff in 2010, but lost in the general election by about 30 percentage points to the incumbent, Robert Norris. (Norris is currently a Republican state representative and a candidate for the state Senate this fall.)
Asked in a televised forum earlier this month what changes he would want to make at the sheriff’s office, Messier said he “would have to look at what’s going on” in the department before he could give an answer. Grismore also appeared at the forum, though Lauer did not; Lauer said in an interview that he had a “personal conflict.”
Lauer has said that he wants to improve the department’s anti-bias and de-escalation training for deputies if he is elected sheriff. He has also said he wants to look into ways to better allocate the department’s limited staff across the county.
Messier said in an interview that local residents on both sides of the political aisle have asked him to drop his write-in bid in an effort to channel more votes to Lauer, but he believes that he has a shot at winning and has no plans to stand down.
“That’s my right — if I want to run, I can run,” he said.
