Adam Fortney for Sheriff

10/23/2026

It is time to build back our Sheriff’s Office and start planning for the future. ALL of it begins with our people and a solid foundation. I have a proven track record of success (new precinct, record setting hiring, body cameras for everyone up to the Sheriff, no tax increases) and my opponent promised all of you recruitment and retention but no one asked her what her plan was.. Heck, we are still waiting for her 100 day plan! I left her with 22 vacant deputy positions well on the way to full staffing and within 2 years she brought that number of vacancies to 50! But hey, at least you are all paying for a new $200,000 administrator to administrate, with less people to administrate to.

We can so do this! Let’s bring the Sheriff’s Office into 2026 and stop recycling old moves that we stopped doing decades ago and for good reason. It’s all about the people!

People First – Future Focused.
fortneyforsheriff.com

10/21/2026

Here is the full endorsement letter from the Snohomish County Corrections Guild. I did not have this endorsement in 2023 but after three years under the current Sheriff, the employees of the Corrections Guild have had enough. There are groups and Individuals all over Snohomish County making this same decision to support a different path with a fresh and current take on leadership, that will inspire the next generation.

10/20/2026

Snohomish County families are watching housing costs rise while elected officials keep asking them to pay more.

At a recent event, my opponent expressed concern about deputies affording housing. Yet she has advocated for higher taxes, leads a Sheriff’s Office facing a County Council-ordered audit, and added an administrative captain costing well over $200,000 a year while deputies remain out of contract and staffing shortages persist.

You can’t claim to put affordability first while making decisions that raise costs and fail to prioritize the people doing the work.

Deputies deserve more than words. They deserve leadership that puts people first, respects taxpayers, and invests in the people who keep our communities safe.

People First – Future Focused.
fortneyforsheriff.com

https://www.snoho.com/news/2026/mar/11/housing-still-tough-to-afford-for-many-why-and-what-now/

SNOHOMISH — Finding affordable housing remains a significant challenge, according to an expert at a county-level housing authority.Almost half of Snohomish County renters in 2024 were paying 35 percent or more of their monthly income for housing. And the cost of renting a 3-bedroom apartment in 20...

10/17/2026

Tired of politics as usual? I am too! This is your chance to add some common sense to Snohomish County government. VOTE YES ON ALL CHARTER AMENDMENTS!

I have been for making all elected offices non-partisan for a very long time and this is your chance to make this change on a local level. It’s a big deal so make sure you get your ballots in and tell all of your friends and family to do the same! Heck, it’s good practice for getting the vote out in the 2027 Sheriff election :)

10/16/2026

I would add to that graphic that this new administrative position at $200,000 a year is further hindering our staffing levels and will not help deputies on the street at all with overtime. This new admin/manager position is a slap in the face to every deputy who has worked their tails off in the last 2 years to get us through this staffing crisis. I sincerely wish more people than me would speak up on what is going on with public safety at the Sheriff’s Office. This election is quickly turning out to be a save the Sheriff’s Office campaign. I’m all in!

People First – Future Focused.
fortneyforsheriff.com

10/11/2026

Love this perspective. It doesn’t matter how many fancy leadership schools you may go to, you have to be willing to implement what they teach to make a difference in your organization.

1. Managers Hoard Information. Leaders Overshare.
2. Managers Weaponize Policy. Leaders Bend Rules for People.
3. Managers “Fire Fast.” Leaders Coach, Then Help People Land Softly.
4. Managers Avoid Hard Conversations. Leaders Run Toward Them.
5. Managers Reward Compliance. Leaders Reward Dissent.

Simon reveals the subtle but powerful ways leaders set themselves apart from managers—and why those choices matter most in times of crisis.

10/07/2026

"Everything in this campaign comes back to three priorities. We must inspire the next generation of public safety professionals because the future of our Sheriff's Office depends on the people willing to serve. We must lead with vision by looking beyond today's emergencies and preparing for tomorrow's challenges. And above all, we must treat people with dignity and respect—our employees, our community, victims, and everyone we serve. That's what 'People First – Future Focused' means."

—Adam Fortney

10/06/2026

How many people in Snohomish County can say their income has gone up nearly 40% or nearly $50,000 in 2 years? How many people in government can say this? I have the answer, only the current Sheriff. Remember, she raised all of our taxes after she got herself an unheard of pay increase as someone had to pay for it.

The logic…..the current Sheriff wanted to be able to recruit others to run for Sheriff in the future. Did you hear that? She wanted more pay to recruit others into her role at the Sheriff’s Office. If only that logic would be consistent throughout the office and the employees were able to use the same logic and we would be able to address the current Sheriff’s historic staffing crisis.

A lot of people may not know this but I have more experience negotiating high level contracts than nearly anyone else at Snohomish County. I have done so as part of labor for over a decade and as the Sheriff on the management side for 4 years. The result? A historic contract for deputies, not for myself, for the employees.

During those negotiations I have always been told by everyone in the contract negotiation business, that county employees always lag behind city employees and you can never make that up in one contract negotiation. Well if the Sheriff can make up her perceived pay differential just a few months into office, in the name of recruitment, it is well past time we all agree to use this logic for ALL employees at Snohomish County.

People First – Future Focused.
fortneyforsheriff.com

10/02/2026

The significance of last week’s Corrections Guild endorsement goes beyond the numbers.

In 2023, the Corrections Guild endorsed my opponent for Sheriff. Three years later, after nearly three years of her leadership as Sheriff, the same membership has overwhelmingly endorsed me by a vote of 65 to 3.
That is a dramatic change and I think the people of Snohomish County should ask themselves what that change says.

These are not people sitting on the sidelines. They are the men and women working inside the jail every day. They know what staffing shortages look like. They know what mandatory overtime feels like. They know what it means to keep showing up when there aren’t enough people to do the job.

It is time for a change. As is clearly evident in this endorsement, even those who may have supported this Sheriff in 2023 have now seen her leadership first-hand, seen the direction of her ship and they want nothing to do with it.

People First – Future Focused.
fortneyforsheriff.com

10/02/2026

Evidently this post is creating some interest and questions out in the community as it rightly should. I would encourage you to direct your questions to the current Sheriff as I cannot explain these decisions on her behalf. Maybe the Sheriff has a perfectly reasonable explanation, but in my book it is inexplicable. It is unfortunate this Sheriff does not have the same media scrutiny that I did when I was in office. If you are confident in your decisions, the scrutiny shouldn't bother you.

A good place to start:

1) Why are you adding a highly paid manager to manage contracts when you cannot even fully staff your contracts with cops on the street as agreed to? Shouldn't fullfilling your contractual obligations come first? Maybe a contract mayor would like to weigh in on this one?

2) We have always had a captain assigned to contracts and I did when I was Sheriff. This position had other duties as well. Are you saying there has been an increase in work load for this high level position that you just had to "create" another administrator to administrate? If there are less deputies staffed in our contracts, where did that extra work load come from?

3) During a historic staffing crisis, why on God's green earth would you "create" a new administrator position which pulls more deputies off of the street?

4) The beautiful City of Darrington contracts for police services from the Sheriff's Office. Due to your staffing crisis, they are currently at 50% staffing levels. How do you justify to the people of Darrington, one of our rural communities, after raising our taxes, that instead of focusing on fullfilling your obligations to fill their staffing needs with cops on the street, you think it's more important to for a manager to manage their contract? You can't even fill their contract!!!

I have more but I will stop! It is time to get back to common sense in our public safety services in Snohomish County. You can go to all the leadership schools in the world, but if you can't implement that leadership in the real-world, it means nothing.