A bitter sheriff's primary, a write-in campaign and a county divided

An unusual sheriff election in Lee County, Alabama, highlights how elected law enforcement often shapes issues of public safety, immigration and gun control.

It began with a phone call. A grassroots write-in campaign had been launched weeks before Tuesday's midterm election in an effort to keep longtime Alabama Sheriff Jay Jones in office. Jones was ousted in May by about 300 votes in a bitterly fought Republican primary in Lee County by a former sheriff's deputy, Cameron Hunt. "Somebody has started this write-in campaign," Lee County resident Jack Carter said, recalling his recent phone conversation, in an interview with CBS News. "And I said, really?" Carter said he had spoken with others about trying to write in their votes for Jones after the primary, but nothing ever materialized — until he got that phone call.

He said he didn't know who was behind the campaign, and it's challenging to find out. A Facebook page dedicated to the "write-in campaign" lists a Proton email address, which is an encrypted account. A query to the email address from a CBS News reporter went unanswered. Carter, a former sheriff's deputy — who said Jones was a mentor — and now a local furniture maker, said he was directed to a woman with access to campaign signs reading, "On Election Day write in Sheriff Jay Jones." Soon, the signs began popping up across yards, pickup trucks and local businesses.He placed one in the back of his black