The Cochise County Republican Party leadership met on Thursday to fill the vacancy on the November ballot left by the untimely death of Sheriff Dever. Dever was running unopposed for a fifth term as sheriff. The leadership chose a retired commander under Dever, Mark Dannels.
Dannels worked under Dever before retiring after 29 years with the Cochise County Sheriff’s Department.
The Cochise County Board of Supervisors named Chief Deputy Rodney Rothrock as interim Sheriff.
Dannels was among four candidates vying to get on the ballot, including Dever’s second-in-command, Chief Deputy Rod Rothrock, who is leading the sheriff’s department in the interim, according to the Arizona Republic. The Republic reported that Dannels told county GOP leaders that Dever had wanted him to run for sheriff whenever he retired from the office, which friends say Dever expected to do after the coming term.
Sheriff Dever died when he lost control of his pickup truck as he was on his way to meet one of his six sons for a hunting trip in the White Horse Lake area.
Dever grew to be a national figure for his calm but stong demeanor during the heated national debate over border security. His friend, rancher Rob Krentz, was killed by what many believe were drug smugglers. At the time of Krentz’s death, Dever became a symbol of border county law enforcement officers and their nearly impossible jobs due to the federal government’s failure to secure the border.