Daniel Richardson Launches Write-In Campaign for Davidson County Sheriff After North Carolina's Ballot-Access Laws Kept His Name Off the Ballot

Richardson pursued a spot on the ballot as an unaffiliated candidate, but North Carolina's petition-signature requirement for candidates outside the two major parties proved too steep to clear before Davidson County's filing deadline. Rather than end the campaign there, he pursued certification as a write-in candidate with the Davidson County Board of Elections instead. Under N.C.G.S. § 163-123, write-in votes are counted only for candidates who have filed a certified Declaration of Intent, and only when a ballot is marked correctly: the candidate's name written on the write-in line, with the accompanying box or oval also filled in.

"Every vote I get, someone had to work for. Nobody in this campaign gets to coast on a printed line on the ballot. That's the hand North Carolina deals independent candidates — I'd rather earn it than not run at all." — Daniel Richardson

Richardson has spent his adult life in public service outside of elected office: pastoring churches, speaking to community and college groups, and building grassroots political leadership from the ground up, including a term as a county party chairman. He has also worked healthcare, construction, warehousing, delivery, and landscaping jobs alongside the people he now hopes to serve. Daniel's executive experience includes serving as Constable of East Allen Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, and Pastor of Allentown God's Missionary Church, and Northampton God's Missionary Church.

Davidson County is Richardson's home now, and he says that's exactly why he's running: accountability, and putting citizens' rights first. He isn't running because he's owed something by the local establishment; he wasn't part of building it — he's running to make Davidson County a place where people feel safe, with their rights and their protection held in balance, not traded off against each other. His priorities include protecting citizens' privacy rights, advocating against Flock Safety surveillance cameras, and defending the right to bear arms — with an office that focuses its enforcement on laws that protect life, liberty, and property.

A Platform Built Around Accountability

Richardson's campaign centers on what he calls "Six Planks, One Standard" — a platform focused on restoring the sheriff's office as an elected, accountable body answering directly to residents rather than to state agencies or political machines.

On Elected By The People, Richardson says a sheriff who owes his office to residents, not to appointment or political favor, has to keep answering to them after Election Day too — through regular public reporting on the office's operations and spending, and an open door for resident feedback rather than a once-every-four-years town hall. That same principle drives Volunteer & Support Our Community: Richardson wants the office building trust before it has to enforce anything, backing neighborhood watch groups, growing volunteer reserve programs, and putting deputies in front of residents outside of emergency calls.

Among the current issues Richardson has raised under Deputies Accountable is the spread of automated license-plate reader (ALPR) networks, including Flock Safety camera systems, across North Carolina counties without consistent public oversight of who can access the data or how long it's kept. He argues that surveillance infrastructure expanding faster than the accountability rules meant to govern it is exactly the kind of "us versus them" drift his platform is built to reverse — alongside a call for every deputy complaint to be part of a searchable public record.

On Community-Involved Policing, Richardson wants residents who report crimes and suspected crimes to have confidence those reports are acted on, paired with faster response times for legitimate calls. "People should know their neighbors, and watch out for each other's interests," he said, framing the plank as a two-way trust between residents and the department, not a one-way expectation.

"Yes, after weighing the evidence, I must oppose the use of ALPR systems. I believe that the danger for their use against innocent people outweighs their use against those suspected of crimes." — Daniel Richardson, on Flock Safety and automated license-plate reader cameras

Richardson is also a longtime, outspoken Second Amendment rights activist, and his 2nd Amendment Enforced and Liberty First planks run together. He says a Davidson County sheriff has both the authority and the obligation to stand firmly behind the right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms — guaranteed under Article I, Section 30 of the North Carolina Constitution — and pledges his office will defend that right rather than allow it to be enforced selectively or eroded by policy creep, while keeping enforcement focused on laws that protect life, liberty, and property rather than expanding it into residents' private affairs.

"Rights aren't a gift from government. The job of a sheriff is to protect them — not ration them." — Daniel Richardson

What Voters Need To Know

Because Richardson's name will not appear on the printed ballot, Davidson County voters who want to support him must write in "Daniel Richardson" on the write-in line for Sheriff and fill in the accompanying box or oval — the name alone is not sufficient under state law. The campaign has published a free, printable one-page voter guide covering the process step by step, intended for supporters to print and share, including at polling locations where permitted.

How To Get Involved

With no party machine and no petition drive behind him, Richardson says the campaign runs on visibility supporters create themselves. He's asking people who back his candidacy to put a yard sign in their yard, wear a campaign pin, and print and hand out the campaign's free write-in guide — simple, low-cost ways to remind Davidson County voters how to cast a write-in vote correctly on Election Day.

Daniel Richardson asks for your write-in vote on Election Day in Davidson County.