A sheriff in Texas announced this week that he officially switched parties and is now a Republican, becoming the second high-profile elected official to reject the Democrat Party under Republican Party of Texas Chairman Matt Rinaldi.
“I look forward to continuing the strong tradition of excellent law enforcement in Karnes County, which requires us to come together for a common cause and seek out leaders of integrity and merit,” Karnes County Sheriff Dwayne Villanueva said in a press release.
The move was hailed by Rinaldi, who stated that he is “proud to welcome” Villanueva to the Republican Party.
The chairman said that Democrats’ soft-on-crime policies and defunding of the police are the main contributors to high-profile officials switching parties under his term.
Last year, in one of Texas’s highest-profile switches in nearly a decade, longtime Democrat Rep. Ryan Guillen announced that he was leaving the Democrat Party to join the GOP after determining that Democrats’ policies “are not the values of most Texans” and “certainly not the values of South Texans.”
“Many of us are waking up to the fact that the values of those in Washington, D.C., are not our values, are not the values of most Texans, certainly not the values of South Texans,” Guillen said during a news conference in Floresville in November 2021.
“The ideology of defunding the police, of destroying the oil and gas industry, and the chaos at our border is disastrous for those of us who live here in South Texas,” he added.
Guillen, a strong supporter of the Second Amendment who has long been against tax increases and an insecure U.S.-Mexico border, won the Nov. 8 midterm elections as a Republican.
Incredible Track Record
In Karnes County, which largely shifted toward the GOP, Villanueva secured the most votes as a Democrat during the 2020 elections.
More than 75 percent of the votes were cast in favor of then-President Donald Trump and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Texas Scorecard reported. Despite this, then-Democrat Villanueva received 65.8 percent of the vote.
Karnes County, population 15,545, is a 47% Hispanic rural county in south Texas. Staunchly conservative, it gave Trump and Cornyn over 75% of the vote. Incumbent Democratic sheriff Dwayne Villanueva miraculously held on, thumping his opponent by over 30 points. pic.twitter.com/oQGjE6B3FW
— Thorongil (@Thorongil16) July 31, 2021
The veteran law enforcement official is known for his strong track record of arrests, including in high-profile cases that involved a serial arsonist, an escaped inmate, drug dealers, and more.
Villanueva has served in the top position since 2013 and has been in law enforcement for nearly three decades. He is currently serving his third term.
In his 2020 reelection campaign, Villanueva said he’s a community leader who “attends most all activities” in the region, and as sheriff, he has been “pro-active” in fighting crime.
“We have gone after criminals instead of waiting for them to commit crimes,” his campaign read. “My office has arrested suspects who have committed home invasions, murders, aggravated assaults, aggravated robberies, as well as criminals dealing narcotics.”
Villanueva was born and raised in Karnes County and also serves on the board of several Chambers of Commerce in Karnes County, as well as the Board of Atascosa Health Clinic Board of Directors while volunteering for many other organizations in the region.
