Chuck Jenkins, Frederick County’s MAGA sheriff, loses bid for sixth term

For the first time in two decades, Frederick County will have a new sheriff.

Republican Chuck Jenkins, known for his vigorous campaigning and brash public image, cruised to victory in election after election, even as Frederick County turned increasingly blue.

His Democratic opponent, Karl Bickel, known as a bookish introvert, has described himself as a poor campaigner, saying, “I hate campaigning.” Jenkins had already beaten Bickel in three prior elections.

Yet on Tuesday, amid an anti-Trump wave and increasing frustration with their MAGA sheriff, Frederick County voters picked Bickel.

Jenkins, an immigration hard-liner, was indicted in 2023 on federal charges that he helped a gun dealer illegally acquire machine guns. The case was dropped in November 2024, right after Donald Trump’s second presidential victory. Jenkins believed his prosecution was politically motivated.

His loss Tuesday night marked the end of an era in Frederick County, and it was a stark reversal of a prediction Jenkins made earlier this fall.

“I’m going to tell you what, man to man: I’d kick his ass, personally,” Jenkins told the publication Bolts in September. “Physically. I’d stomp his ass. Someday, he’s got an ass-kicking coming. I don’t like the son of a bitch. Personally, politically, he’s no good. He can read all the books he wants.”

When asked about this statement in an interview last week, Jenkins said: “I probably shouldn’t have said it. But as a man, to a man, you’ve got to have a little pride.”

Banner reporter Lee O. Sanderlin contributed to this story.