Sonoma County Democrats endorse Kevin Burke in run for sheriff

Just a week after announcing his candidacy for Sonoma County Sheriff, Kevin Burke has burnished his list with several notable additions.

The Sonoma County Democratic Party has endorsed Burke, the retired Healdsburg police chief, his campaign announced Tuesday.

“It’s one thing to talk about dedication and values, but Chief Burke has demonstrated his commitment,” Pat Sabo, chair of the Sonoma County Democratic Party, said in a press release from Burke’s campaign. “In his 15 years as a city police chief, Chief Burke has always put the community first.”

Santa Rosa Councilman Tom Schwedhelm, a retired police chief, and Councilman John Sawyer, the senior incumbent, also recently endorsed Burke, joining other local elected officials, including District Attorney Jill Ravitch and Healdsburg Mayor Ozzy Jimenez.

Burke, 55, retired as Healdsburg’s police chief in 2021, after 10 years in the role.

He announced his candidacy last week, citing his experience leading a police department through the floods that swept through the city in December 2014, the 2019 Kincade fire, which threatened the city’s eastern flank and forced the evacuation of its 11,000 residents, and a local push for racial justice and police reform in 2020.

Burke was last registered as a Republican — from February 2020 until November 2021 — when he changed his party registration to Democrat, according to county records.

“In deciding to become a candidate that’s when I began to assess which is the best political party as a candidate and as a person at this point in my life to be associated with,” Burke said.

He said the Democratic Party better aligned with his values.

“As a candidate I’m about public safety, but also transparency and inclusion,” Burke said. “And those are the values of the Democratic Party.”

Democrats also far outnumber Republicans and no-party-preference voters in Sonoma County. Democrats make up 56.7% of the local electorate, Republicans 17.5%, and no-party-preference 19.1%, according to the county Registrar of Voters.

And though the Sheriff’s post and other local offices are contested as non-partisan races, most local office holders are Democrats.

When asked if he would have switched his party registration if he were not running for office, Burke said “I don’t know. I don’t think so.”

He reiterated that deciding to run for office prompted him to re-evaluate which party aligned with his values.

Burke said he went through an interview process with leaders of the Sonoma County Democratic Party a few weeks ago.

The party’s central committee then voted “nearly unanimously” to endorse Burke, the release said. It did not specify how the vote broke down.

Sabo did not return a call for comment.

Though “extremely thankful and honored” to have the Sonoma County Democratic Party’s endorsement, Burke said he will be reaching out to all Sonoma County voters.

Burke is running against Assistant Sheriff Eddie Engram, retired Sonoma County Sheriff’s Capt. Dave Edmonds and retired San Francisco police sergeant Carl Tennenbaum for the sheriff’s post.

In September 2021, Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick announced he would not run for reelection.

If no candidate in the June 7 primary wins more than 50% of the vote, the contest will proceed to a runoff between the two top vote-getters.

You can reach Staff Writer Emma Murphy at 707-521-5228 or emma.murphy@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MurphReports.