Dowling to challenge McLaughlin in March primary
Dowling to challenge McLaughlin in March primary
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LISBON -- Columbiana County Sheriff Brian McLaughlin said he's running for re-election, but he'll have some competition in the Republican primary for sheriff after former Chief Deputy Robert "Kip" Dowling said he's running, too.
Both longtime lawmen announced their intentions last week and both have officially filed petitions with the county Board of Elections as candidates for sheriff for the Republican nomination.
McLaughlin, who will be seeking a second four-year term, is close to completing his first term. He said there's still work to be done and asked for the support of the citizens to keep him as sheriff.
Dowling, who's a member of the Southern Local school board, currently serves as a captain with the Carroll County Sheriff's Office where he's the jail administrator.
McLaughlin's career in law enforcement began in 1990 with the sheriff's office after he graduated from the police academy. He started as a dispatcher and shortly after was promoted to deputy sheriff in the corrections division of the sheriff's office. He switched to the road division in 1992, working afternoon shifts until he was promoted to detective sergeant in 2001 to run the Columbiana County Drug Task Force. While with the DTF, he was sworn in as a task force agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Marshal's Office.
He then became sergeant over the road division and in 2008 he was promoted to lieutenant. In 2012 he was assigned again to the DTF as director, leading two federal wiretap cases and a 2017 state wiretap case that resulted in 756 charges filed on 100 defendants.
A 1987 graduate of Southern Local High School who has lived in Columbiana County his entire life, Dowling attended Jefferson Community College where he studied criminal justice for two years.
Dowling's career began with the Columbiana County Sheriff's Office in 1989 as a correction officer. He graduated from the Salem Police Academy in 1990, and