LAKE COUNTY, Ind. — Indiana State Police Maj. Jerry Williams won the Lake County Sheriff’s Democratic primary. He topped a six-candidate field. November is still ahead. His platform centers on a jail commissary audit and restoring public trust.
Region News Source reported May 6 that Williams defeated five other Democrats. He thanked voters for backing a new direction at the Sheriff’s Office. “I’m grateful to the voters of Lake County who heard our message and called for a new direction for the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. We have a lot of work to do between now and the General Election, but, if we win, we’ll do a deep dive on all processes in the office and make some much needed changes,” he said in a post-primary statement.
Key facts
| Candidate | Share (election night) |
|---|---|
| Jerry Williams | ~26% (plurality winner) |
| Steven Flores | ~22% (St. John police chief; conceded) |
| Edward Jenkins | ~18% |
| Jason Gore | ~18% |
| Maria Garcia Trajkovich | ~13% |
| Jack Gregory Sanchez | ~3% |
Source: The Times / Lake County Board of Elections, election night.
The Times of Northwest Indiana reported from Merrillville that Williams claimed victory at the Dean and Barbara White Community Center around 10 p.m. “We still got a race to run and win in November,” he told that crowd. With roughly 80% of precincts in, he added: “I am humbled. I am grateful and I thank God for where he has brought us. These votes, these numbers indicate we can unite ourselves as a community.”
Williams is a 33-year law enforcement veteran and longtime ISP administrator, Region News Source reported. He said he managed more than $400 million in taxpayer-funded assets and oversaw the ISP Lowell Post. He worked under retired Superintendent Douglas Carter and spent about 18 months helping Gary Police, including roughly six months as interim chief. Carter endorsed him in a WJOB interview that month, Region News Source said.
The Times traced a path that began as a Lake County Sheriff’s Department correctional officer before he joined the state police. Stops included community-oriented policing, gaming enforcement, the FBI’s Gang Response Investigative Task Force, and Lowell post command. As of primary coverage, The Times said he served as ISP assistant chief of logistics — assets, posts, the vehicle fleet, and projects such as the Lowell post’s roughly $30 million facility finished in October 2024.
If elected in November, Region News Source reported, Williams plans to:
- Audit the Lake County Jail Commissary Fund
- Create a public portal for the fund’s activity
- Form an advisory board to oversee the fund
- Improve jail hiring, retention, and admin
- Build a community committee for a broader department overhaul
He began campaigning in early 2024 around restoring confidence after years of negative attention, Region News Source said. The Times’ election-night recap described a primary shaped by scandals that shook trust in the office. Campaign manager Roy Dominguez — Lake County sheriff from 2003 to 2010 — told The Times voters responded to Williams’ state-police record. “He was able to incorporate what he heard from the citizens into his policies,” Dominguez said. “We campaigned from day one that he would be a sheriff for all the citizens of Lake County.”
If Williams wins in November, Region News Source and The Times both noted, he would be the first African-American elected Lake County Sheriff. Dominguez told The Times some once said voters would never elect an African-American sheriff. “As the primary nominee, the voters looked at the content of his message, accepted it and voted for him,” he said.
The Times reported Williams is expected to face Republican David Crane in November. Crane ran unopposed in the GOP primary. Lake County’s Democratic lean often makes the primary decisive. Williams still framed November as a full campaign. After the Merrillville party, he told The Times his family would “take a moment to decompress and reflect … and pray” before getting “right back to work.”