A police officer who says he was barred from running as a Republican in the Limestone County sheriff’s race because of his sexual orientation could not muster enough signatures to get his name on the ballot as an Independent.

Jason White told The News Courier Tuesday he was unable to gather the signatures of 691 Limestone County registered voters, the number needed to get his name on the Nov. 6 general election ballot as an Independent.

“We didn’t make it,” White said, without revealing the number of signatures he had obtained.

Tuesday was the deadline to turn in the signatures to the Limestone County Probate Office, which would then verify whether the signatures were those of registered Limestone voters. The 691 required reflects a percentage of those who voted in the last gubernatorial election.

Other candidates for sheriff include incumbent Democrat Mike Blakely and Republican Eric Redd.

Time crunch

White said lack of time was the reason he did not make the deadline.

A former Athens police officer, White is currently a police sergeant for the University of Alabama at Huntsville and co-owns a security company — Riley Security of Huntsville — with his husband, a former Navy SEAL.

“We were able to get a lot of signatures at public events,” White said, noting recently that he obtained 100 signatures at a recent auto show. “But going door-to-door, you might work all day and only get 20 signatures.”

A recent merger at the security firm has taken much of White’s time over the past two months, he said. Another security company recently merged with Riley, allowing them to add 20 employees to the existing 40 along with seven new clients. Had he been allowed on the GOP ballot or gotten enough signatures to run as an Independent, he would have handed over managerial duties at the security firm to make time to campaign, he said.

White said he may run for sheriff in four years. Meanwhile, he will continue trying to create jobs and obtain new clients at Riley.

Background

Although White ran for sheriff as a Republican in 2002, he believes he was prevented from running on the GOP ticket this time because of his sexual orientation. Local Republican Executive Committee Chairman Noah Wahl said White’s sexual orientation was not an issue and White was denied ballot access because he is not a true Republican. Wahl said White did not vote for Donald Trump for president but instead supported the Libertarian candidate. Wahl also said White did not donate to other GOP candidates, though White said he has supported GOP candidates at events.

After White was rejected access to the GOP ballot, the Libertarian Party in Madison asked him to run for Limestone sheriff as a Libertarian, something White said he appreciated but declined.

In seeking signatures, White said he has gotten a lot of encouragement from people who believe the local GOP was wrong in preventing him from running as a Republican.