(Guadalupe County) — Guadalupe County’s emergency management coordinator and fire marshal has officially begun his campaign for Guadalupe County Sheriff. Patrick Pinder will be seeking the Republican nomination for Guadalupe County Sheriff during the March 2024 Primary.
Pinder looks to replace longtime lawman Arnold Zwicke who in November announced his decision to not seek re-election.
Pinder has a total of 12 years of service to Guadalupe County. Eight years after beginning as a patrolman with the Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office in 2011, Pinder was promoted to his current leadership role.
Pinder says it’s always been his desire to lead the law enforcement efforts throughout the county.
“I’ve known that I wanted to work in law enforcement since I was a young kid and growing up in the community, I interacted with the deputies and I think again that kind of inspired me to serve the community and developed a good relationship with them and then I just kind of started from there. I got a late start. It took me a little bit to get into it but back in 2011, I joined the academy and started my law enforcement career and ever since then, I’ve been working to serve the community,” said Pinder.
Pinder, who was at the forefront of the COVID-19 pandemic, says he’s had a good working relationship with the sheriff’s office over the years.
In addition, he believes he has the vision to ensure the security and protection of the county’s future.
“I believe I bring a wealth of knowledge to the citizens of the county. I know the community. I know the needs of the community. I do know the law enforcement side of the county. I have a connection with grants and stuff like that so I think that I can bring the resources that the officers would need to effectively do their job in an adequate and timely manner. I was part of the CAD system integration at the sheriff’s office. I was part of the radio system upgrade and so being a part of those larger projects in the county has allowed me to get an insight of what the officers are going through currently as supposed to what I went through. We needed to make sure that the technology side is advancing over at the sheriff’s office and we are finally getting into that stage where we have computers and cars and we are starting to get a CAD system and that’s one of the things that is important to the community is to make sure that when you dial 911, that the law enforcement officer who is the closest can get to you and they are not one coming from halfway across the county,” said Pinder.
The race for county sheriff has drawn a total of two candidates. Joshua Ray, the current chief deputy for the Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office also announced his decision to run on the same ticket in November.
The Republican and Democratic Primary Election is scheduled for Tuesday, March 5, 2024.