Wicomico County Sheriff
Wicomico County · 2026-11-03
Lana Foley was unopposed for the Democratic nomination. Mike Lewis won the Republican primary comfortably, taking 76 per cent against one challenger.
More Republicans voted in this primary (6,740) than in any other county contest, including County Executive — the sheriff's race drew the most Republican participation on the ballot.
Only Foley completed the Baltimore Sun and Capital Gazette's pre-primary questionnaire, so her entry below is much the longer of the two. The paper says it is sending the same questionnaire to every candidate again before the general election.
What this office does
The Sheriff is elected countywide for a four-year term and runs the Wicomico County Sheriff's Office: patrol and investigations outside the municipalities, the county detention centre, court security, and service of court process. The Sheriff answers to voters rather than to the County Executive or Council, which makes this one of the few county offices with its own independent mandate.
The Council approves the office's budget, so the two interact at budget time even though neither directs the other.
Candidates
Listed alphabetically by surname. Each summary is written only from the official record and the candidate's own campaign material — never from what anyone else says about them. Other coverage is listed under each candidate and labelled by what kind of source it is.
Lana Foley
Democratic
Foley won the Democratic nomination unopposed with 4,710 votes. She lives in Salisbury, works as a photographer and substitute teacher, and graduated from Salisbury University in graphic design. She has not held office before and says she does not come from a law enforcement background — which she argues lets her hear staff without being shaped by the office's existing divisions.
Her stated first priority is retention. She says the office has had the same leadership for 19 years and that this is the moment to look at why people leave, and proposes beginning with a private one-to-one conversation with every employee in the Sheriff's Office — explicitly not evaluations — to find out what is and is not working. She would protect collective bargaining, recruitment, training and wellness programmes, and says any restructuring should start with administrative overlap rather than staffing.
On immigration she says she has opposed 287(g) since the current sheriff first raised it, arguing federal agencies can carry out immigration enforcement without local jails participating, and that local law enforcement should stay focused on community safety and trust. She cites the Community Trust Act and the no-masking provisions as helping that.
On accountability she notes the Sheriff's Office does not take part in CALEA accreditation while the City of Salisbury does, and argues an outside standard would make expectations clearer — while acknowledging it costs fees and staff time.
She also wants career and technical education programmes introducing students to local public safety work, on the model of school ROTC for the military.
Mike Lewis Incumbent
Republican
Lewis won the Republican primary with 5,126 votes to Scott M. Hamilton's 1,614 — 76.1 per cent.
He is the sitting sheriff: his registered campaign committee is "Re-Elect Mike Lewis for Sheriff".
The Baltimore Sun and Capital Gazette's voter guide carries no questionnaire response from him, which is why this entry is shorter than his opponent's. The paper says all candidates are being sent the same questionnaire again before the general election.
Sources for this race
Official record
Official 2026 Gubernatorial Primary Election Results — Wicomico County
Wicomico County Board of Elections
News reporting
Wicomico County to drop at-large elections after ACLU lawsuit