Cayuga County Sheriff Rob Outhouse will not be able to rely on support from several of his own staff in the voting booth.

By a vote of 26 to 6, the Cayuga County Deputy Sheriff's Police Association has decided to instead endorse Republican challenger David Gould.

The union, which has 32 members and represents all professional law enforcement officers in the sheriff's department except the sheriff and undersheriff, cast its ballot votes at a regular monthly meeting Wednesday night.

At past meetings, members had listened to presentations from both Outhouse and Gould, a former state police officer.

Association President Frederick Cornelius attributed the vote's outcome to Gould's perceived ability to foster successful relationships with the county Legislature and other political and police groups.

"It's important to have good working relationships," Cornelius said. "We have contract negotiations coming up, and we don't want to be at odds with everybody."

For the complete story, read Friday's edition of The Citizen