Brad Sandefur

Brad Sandefur

Libertarian Party

Candidate, Cook County Sheriff

Elections and appointments

Next election

March 17, 2026

Education

Associate

Oakton Community College, 1987

Bachelor's

Roosevelt University, 2015

Graduate

Liberty University, 2018

Military

Service / branch

U.S. Marine Corps

Years of service

1980 - 1981

Personal

Birthplace

Evansville, Ind.

Religion

Lutheran

Profession

Law enforcement officer

Contact

Personal LinkedIn

Brad Sandefur (Libertarian Party) is running for election for Cook County Sheriff in Illinois. He declared candidacy for the Libertarian Party primary scheduled on March 17, 2026.^[source]

Biography

Brad Sandefur was born in Evansville, Indiana. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1980 to 1981. He earned an associate degree from Oakton Community College in 1987, a bachelor's degree from Roosevelt University in 2015, and a graduate degree from Liberty University in 2018. Sandefur's career experience includes working as a law enforcement officer, waiter, busboy, dishwasher, host, salesman, handyman's assistant, bartender, bar manager, retail manager, security worker, and tutor.

Elections

2026

See also: Municipal elections in Cook County, Illinois (2026)

General election

The primary will occur on March 17, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.

Democratic primary

Democratic primary for Cook County Sheriff

Incumbent Thomas Dart (D) is running in the Democratic primary for Cook County Sheriff on March 17, 2026.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	Thomas Dart

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
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Libertarian Party primary

Libertarian primary for Cook County Sheriff

Brad Sandefur (L) is running in the Libertarian Party primary for Cook County Sheriff on March 17, 2026.

		Candidate
		Brad Sandefur

---

	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

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2022

See also: Municipal elections in Cook County, Illinois (2022)

General election

General election for Cook County Sheriff

Incumbent Thomas Dart defeated Lupe Aguirre and Brad Sandefur in the general election for Cook County Sheriff on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Thomas Dart (D)	74.2	1,041,525
		Lupe Aguirre (R)	22.9	321,252
		Brad Sandefur (L)	2.9	40,752

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,403,529
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Cook County Sheriff

Incumbent Thomas Dart defeated Noland Rivera in the Democratic primary for Cook County Sheriff on June 28, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Thomas Dart	86.2	314,427
	Submit photo	Noland Rivera	13.8	50,455

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 364,882
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Libertarian primary election

Libertarian primary for Cook County Sheriff

Brad Sandefur advanced from the Libertarian primary for Cook County Sheriff on June 28, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Brad Sandefur	100.0	1,957

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,957
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Brad Sandefur has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey. If you are Brad Sandefur, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.

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2022

Video for Ballotpedia

Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released July 23, 2022

Brad Sandefur completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Sandefur's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a married 62-year-old father of four. I am an Independent who leans conservative and runs on the Libertarian Party ticket. My wife of 32 years and I adopted our disabled grandson, who became our fourth and youngest child. I have 32 years with the sheriff's department and continue to work as a deputy sheriff supervisor.

I am a former U.S. Marine and have been working in various forms of law enforcement for over forty years. I hold a Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice with a forensic psychology cognate, am currently a Doctoral candidate, and am also a published scholar. In law enforcement, I am a certified tactical officer and a certified academy instructor. and I have trained with the FBI, the Secret Service, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. I have been a law enforcement supervisor for 26 years and a shift commander for 17 years. I believe we need to put some enforcement back into law enforcement.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Turn the sheriff's department into a well-rounded public safety department
• More mental health treatment and less imprisonment for mentally ill suspects
• Stop sentencing children to life in prison

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Finding alternatives to incarceration for youth, mentally, and non-violent, first-time offenders. Developing more preemptive programs to divert people away from people and influences that have a propensity to lead people toward criminal activity. Getting all political influences out of law enforcement agencies' hiring, promoting, firing, and operational planning. We should be an arm for American citizens, not politicians.

What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the state government and legal system?

This is the sheriff for the second-most populated county in the United States. 40% of Illinois' total population resides in this county. Representatives come from all over the world to see how the Cook County Sheriff's department does things. This department can be a standard bearer for relegitimizing law enforcement, regaining community confidence in law enforcement, and appreciating and respecting its sworn members and the civilian staff that support them.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I look up to my father. He set an example of what a father who does not abandon his responsibilities is all about. My father lost custody of his children in the early 1960s. He spent several years fighting to get us back. Nothing would stop him. he eventually succeeded, regaining custody of us in 1969. For all practical purposes, my mother abandoned us, but our father never quit on us, which is exactly what I had engraved on his tombstone.

He spent forty years as a factory worker, something I could never do. I know this because I tried three times to stick with factory work and I just could not do it. There were some well-known people in my family. They rubbed elbows with the rich and famous. However, my father's whole focus was on his family, cars, and fishing. We were never rich, but we had everything we needed.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

The ability and willingness to learn and listen combined with honesty, integrity, credibility, a willingness to direct and delegate, and knowledge of servant-leadership.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Determination, honesty. integrity, credibility, willingness to serve, willing to accept responsibility for failures, and willing to share credit for successes.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

To protect everyone fairly and equally, to enforce the laws that keep people safe, and to train and educate their staff, sworn and civilian, as well as to educate the public on what law enforcement is and is not allowed to do. It will be important to strengthen existing bonds and build new and stronger bonds and trust within all communities within the county.

What legacy would you like to leave?

That we got politics out of law enforcement, that law-abiding citizens and law enforcement officers were held and treated with the respect they deserve and that we improved the direction of lives for those who were headed in the wrong direction, making all communities safer, and that we stopped locking up the mentally ill for behaviors that were beyond their control; and helped restore them to a functional state that will keep them out of confinement.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

The first major incident that occurred during my lifetime was the assassination of President Kennedy. The first major incident that I can remember was the assassination of Robert Kennedy.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

My first job was running my own landscaping business. I was 12 or 13, and I did it for several years.

What is your favorite book? Why?

To Kill a Mockingbird.

It shows how anyone can improve things by not being afraid to go against mainstream beliefs based on superstition and false facts.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

I am pretty happy being me and have never had a strong desire to pretend I am someone other than who I am.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

If I Can Dream by Elvis Presley

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

Trusting others and dealing with a family of people with disabilities.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for holders of this office to have previous experience in government or politics?

As one of my main goals is to remove political influences from the sheriff's department and how they determine their operational plans, political experience is meaningless. Experience in 'boots on the ground' law enforcement is important, not necessarily experience in government. Many government employees have experience at their specific job but that does not qualify as government experience in the context usually meant by such a statement. This statement normally implies experience in administering or administrating government programs or agencies.

What kind of skills or expertise do you believe would be the most helpful for the holders of this office to possess?

In any law enforcement position, the most important qualities are the ability to communicate, meaning the ability to give clear direction and to listen, and the ability to take charge with knowledge and confidence while instilling confidence in others that you are giving good direction backed by knowledge, experience, and ability with the best interests of law-abiding American citizens at heart.

The ability to direct resources to problem areas and develop new strategies for reducing crime and increasing the successful creation of safe and productive citizens to aid in creating safer and more producitve neighborhoods and communities.

Tell us your favorite joke.

will only state that I appreciate jokes that some may find offensive.

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